I began this post on fear about two years ago. What in the whirl? How can something I wrote two years ago still resonate with me?

I can just pick up and continue writing because it’s that relevant. So relevant…like the first thing I thought of was me sitting poolside at my sister-in-law’s house a few days ago and decidedly moving myself inside because there were bats (yep, you read that correctly) swooping and flying around the pool. I’m skeered of birds. I watched the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds, when I was a little girl (The babysitter was OK with it. Why not?), and I want them to stay at a beautiful distance from me. You want to get me itchy, feed the birds while I sit in my beach chair trying to relax.

I KNOW they are just as scared of me as I am of them. I KNOW I’m bigger than they are. I KNOW I don’t have love birds trapped in a cage in my house. But still… 

Maybe you need these words today, too. Perhaps that’s why I had it in drafts and never published it. It was waiting for me to finish writing it today, ’cause you know, timing is everything.

Have you ever just sat dumbstruck and flabbergasted over life? The hits just keep coming. You begin to wonder if a big red target is on your heart and soul.

There is. Satan has us marked for destruction. If God would have allowed it, he would have ended our lives before we sucked in our first breath of air. Satan is a liar and a thief.

Now that thought often gives me a shiver. I can get really worried about what’s next. Being real here, the prince of darkness can sometimes dim my light by a mere whisper.

Those of us in ministry often feel our target is bigger. But wait, aren’t we all called to be a functioning part of the body of Christ? So there goes that excuse theory.

I’m hoping a few of you are shaking your heads with an amen, even if it’s a nervous one.

There are tons (well, a lot) of Bible verses out there addressing being fear-full. Probably one of the most important ones is the reminder that it’s definitely not of God. Y’all, read 2 Timothy 1:7  in the Amplified Bible,

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

One of the ways I’m learning to cope with fear (besides not allowing bats to play in my hair) is Scripture affirmations. I love this Bible verse and the personalized statement from scripture I wrote,

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you. All whose thoughts are fixed on you. Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

If you would enjoy more of these affirmations, I offer this download to help get you started. Perspective Changing Affirmations

Oh, and maybe another moral to this story is not to put things into your mind that you will probably never get out. I have several things like that, and I’m praying God will pull that stuff up by the roots!