I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. Psalm 16:8
How much does fear control you? Ask the Holy Spirit this question. Ask Him to be specific in the ways you have given into fear. So much of our insecurities and problems within ourselves stem from deep seated fears that sit way down deep within our souls. Those fears can also be entangled with the other two other main roots of iniquity in our soul – being pride and lust (discontentment). Those three are the basic roots of all our main fleshly desires and soul issues. There should only be one fear within us. Fear of the Lord. All other fears always try to supplant that ‘Fear of the Lord’. Those other fears want to be in the ‘first’ place in your life, instead of your dependence and reverence in the Lord. If Jesus really IS your salvation and Lord– what else is there to fear? *selah* (meaning stop and pause and deeply ponder this)
Are fears stirring in your soul keeping you from being honest to yourself and others? Are you keeping ‘secrets’ from others because of fears? Do you really trust Jesus? Do you trust Jesus enough to be honest with others? Can you listen to His advice on how to talk to others? With His love and grace, but also with total honesty? If you’re married – do you want your spouse to keep secrets from you?
I’ll address this to the women reading this. If your husband asks you if you are alright, and you respond “I’m fine.”, and you’re not, you are not being honest with him. Yes, you many not be able to express what you are feeling or going through – but you NEED to be honest with him, and tell him “No.” And then explain you will share with him later if needed what you are going through and feeling. I know my wife does NOT like it when I don’t discuss things with her. I’m not intentionally holding things from her we just need the time at the end of the day to discuss everything each other are doing. In this VERY busy world – we all need to communicate more. We can’t let things just ‘sit’, especially in relationships. Those are open doors for our enemy to enter and twist, and malign, and create new fears within your soul and mind.
Do you share all of your fears with the Holy Spirit? Can you name them? Say them out loud? Asking Him to help you in this area is vitally important for your soul’s health. Do you have close friends you can be brutally honest with? Can you share your deepest-seated fears with them? After Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we need CLOSE friends we can really share with. We don’t need shallow friendships we need friendships that can bear the load of our real honesty.
The problem I mainly see is our dishonesty with ourselves. We don’t want to admit to ourselves our own inadequacies, iniquities, shortcomings, and addictions. The ONLY way to get rid of our fears is to expose everything before Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Obviously, He already knows our issues, but we need to confess them before Him … out loud. Dragging all of them into the … Light of Christ. The next steps are usually telling a close trustworthy friend these things. If we keep them secret – they will just fester within our souls and grow into all sorts of nastiness and sin. How courageous and brave are you? How much do want to grow closer to Jesus and deeper with the Holy Spirit? Or do you want to still live in your own non-reality? BASE truth: God’s kingdom and reality …really is the only REAL thing. Whose reality are you living in? One of your own making …or God’s?