Conquering Fear is not something that we do in one day. It is something that we conquer one day at a time with God's help.
Many years ago, during the delivery of our fourth son, the Doctor told me in the delivery room that our baby's heart had stopped beating. I was immediately gripped with fear after hearing those words spoken over me. Then I was told I needed to stay awake for an emergency C-Section, and I started to hyperventilate while the Doctors were scurrying around me. The next few words I heard was that we had a son and that they got his heart beating again, however, he had been too long without oxygen and was not responding. A few days later we received the saddest news of our life, our little boy Mark had passed away. From that time on I struggled with anxiety, worry and fear. Going back into a hospital, to a Doctor's office, into a room with no windows, on an elevator, or walking into an underground parking area, would cause this overwhelming sense of fear to overtake me. Worry, anxiety and fear are like seeds, that if we allow them to be planted in our mind and water them they will grow. Fear, like a baby, grows larger by nursing it. The more we think about fear, the more opportunity we give fear to take control of our lives.
Worry seems to be the sin that most of us are not afraid to commit.
"I found that a day of worrying
was more exhausting than a day of work"
A few years later, I started a new position as the Director of the Pregnancy Support Services. During my time there many of the young mothers were having their babies, asking me to go into the hospital to see them. I had a decision to make, I could do it afraid or let these young Moms down by giving them an excuse as to why I couldn't come in to see them. I decided to go into hospitals, elevators, and Doctor's offices, many times feeling like fear was chasing me. Each time I decided to face this fear and run towards it, with God's help, I enjoyed more freedom and release from its grip.
The best antidote for fear is faith!
Being free from worry, fear, and anxiety doesn't mean that we will never experience it or be confronted by it again. It is making a decision not to allow it to run our lives. In order for my fearful mindset to be broken, my thinking needed to be renewed. I needed to have faith. One of my favorite scriptures I would say over and over was 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast the whole of your care Linda, (all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all on Him,) for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully." And although fear would try to attack me, it didn't make me a coward. Fear only becomes a problem when you and I receive it and let it control our lives; instead of standing against it and confronting it with the truth of God's Word.
Through Christ we are more than a conqueror!
