Fear never tells us the truth. Fear always lies to us and cannot be trusted. Twice this past week, Pastor Dewey shared links on Facebook to two different posts I wrote in 2014 on fear and how those posts are getting hits on the FGGAM site. (You can read those posts here and here.)
When I wrote those posts in 2014, the Lord had begun an intense process to deliver me from the spirit of fear. Though I did not receive a miraculous deliverance from fear and suddenly filled with courage, the Lord has taken me through a process of deliverance.
You see, I did not realize how much fear I had inside of me until circumstances of life squeezed me and fear is what came out.
Yes, even as a true believer in Jesus Christ, I had more fear inside me than Jesus. So what has happened since 2014?
I’ve been getting more of Jesus inside me through the Word and the Holy Spirit.
First John 4:18 reads, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love” (BSB).
God’s perfect love! That’s the key. The very thing I needed, I tried to run from.
I had experienced hurts from people in church leadership. To protect myself from future hurts, I placed church leaders in a box in my mind and labeled it “those who will hurt me and must be avoided.”
In the post Close the Door on Fear, I shared how Adam and Eve hid from God because they were afraid. Why? Because they knew they had done wrong by eating the forbidden fruit.
In hindsight, I can see how the enemy deceived me by enticing me to partake of the forbidden fruit by avoiding church leaders.
I took a forbidden fruit of offense and began to harbor unforgiveness. What is unforgiveness? It is holding a grudge against someone or others. It is sin as we are commanded to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Therefore, unforgiveness is forbidden fruit.
Consuming the forbidden fruit of unforgiveness caused me to hide in fear from God’s people.
But then God…by His grace and loving kindness, would not let me remain in hiding and He came looking for me. He showed me the errors of my ways. I repented for holding an offense and forgave those who hurt me.
Once I chose to forgive, I experienced more of God’s love through church leaders! The more I experienced His love, the more fear left me!
The Lord has placed people in my life to show me His perfect love. These church leaders have guided me and loved me in ways I would have never experienced if I had continued to hide from them due to my fears.
Once we recognize we’ve eaten forbidden fruit, repent to draw closer to God. Hiding from God separates us from Him.
Repentance and forgiveness allows us to experience God’s perfect love and frees us from fear!
