LET IT GO…

If there seems to be one overriding emotion in the movie “Frozen” it is fear. The King and Queen are fearful for their daughters and so the girls are separated and grow up alone. Elsa is afraid of what she might inadvertently do with her power and so she puts up barriers between her and those she loves. Anna fears being alone and so she ends up engaged to a man she had just met. Hans being the youngest of 13 brothers fears insignificance and is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure he had a place in the world. Kristoff fears for his business, who wants to buy ice when it is always cold? And the villagers? Well like villagers everywhere it seemed that they are afraid of everything. It seemed that the only characters in the story who weren’t afraid of something was Sven the Reindeer and Olaf the snow man.

Fear isn’t just the overriding theme of the movie Frozen, but sometimes it seems that fear is the overriding theme of our lives too.

The word ‘Fear’ has different meanings in different contexts. There are actually several different words used to convey the idea of Fear.

In one context  the  word Fear simply means to be in awe of, or to revere or respect something. For example, In the Bible it is used for the ‘Fear of God.’

Then in another context Fear is a natural life saving instinct. This is the type of fear that keeps us from doing silly things, like stepping off tall buildings, jumping in front of moving vehicles and  putting out hands in fire.

In yet another context Fear is an uncontrollable or extreme emotion that grips the human heart.. It’s where we get our word  Terror or Phobia. And this is a Natural Fear taken to the extreme level. If the first two type of fears keeps us living, the third type keeps us from living. The website www.phobialist.com actually lists over 500 different fears, things like

Acousticophobia- Fear of noise or

Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens or

Cometophobia- Fear of comets or

Didaskaleinophobia- Fear of going to school.

And the context of this word is,  ‘Being afraid to do things or for that matter even to try things, because you are afraid that you might fail.’

This is the fear that makes us live mediocre ordinary lives, never taking chances, never trying to change anything, content to simply drift along. This is the spirit of average, and it keeps us in a rut.

And Paul tells us in the Bible that this extreme paralysing fear has not been given to us by God. The question is, if God hasn’t given it to us then where does it come from?

If you are an ardent  fan of Starwars , then you may have come across this statement in the Starwars episode “The Phantom Menace”,  Yoda tells young Anikan that ‘Fear comes from the dark side’

That’s right, fear comes from the dark side. The Devil wants you to be afraid to do anything for God, to say anything for God or to even try anything for God.

And we CAN’T let that happen.

The spirit of fear robs you of what God wants for you. When you are governed by fear, there are things that you will never do, because of your fear of things that may never happen. And so when you are presented with an opportunity to try something new and you don’t , because you project your fears into the situation.

So here, I am not just simply going to tell you  like the song in Frozen to ‘Let it go’ or ‘Let your fear go’,  but we want to help you by looking at the 4 practical steps to deal with our fears.

The biggest problem is when most of us try to hide

our fears or do not prefer to talk about it.

Uncontrolled fears are the scheme of the enemy to paralyse us and stop us from enjoying life to the fullest as God planned for us.

The more we hide our fears the deeper it establishes itself.

So firstly it is important we identify the fear in us , then it is very important to break the secret and bring the fear to

light and share our fears with someone whom we trust and can help us out.

Why should we do that?

Why can’t I  just do a private prayer asking God to remove our fear.

In psalm 139: 23, the psalmist doesn’t ask God to Remove his fears, he asks God to Reveal his fear.

The first step to fight your fear is to ask God to Reveal

your fear and then do all that is possible to bring that fear to light.

Behind every fear is a strong lie. Fear gets lodged in us not because of the fearful situation, but because of the lies associated with the fear-  the lies the enemy speaks into our minds about that situation. These lies stay behind in our mind and goes deeper into our emotion and will. So what seems baseless to some of us , will seem real and true to the one who faces that fear. The person may be a strong follower of Christ and may even know from the scripture that fear is baseless, but still feels  fearful about that particular situation.

For example

Someone who has a Fear of driving, the underlying lie could be ‘I will die in an accident if I drive.’

Someone who has a Fear of marriage, the underlying lie could be ‘My marriage will not work out and it will end up in divorce.’

Someone who has a Fear of exam, the underlying lie could be  ‘I will never be able to reach my parents expectations.’

Someone who has a Fear of talking to people, the underlying lie could be ‘I will not be accepted by people as I am boring and do not have an interesting personality’.

Someone who has a Fear of future the underlying lie could be ‘I will never be able to succeed in anything; I am not good at anything’.

The factor that holds our fear on to us are these lies.

So once we identify our fears it’s important we take

time to list the lies that has established the fears in our

life.

Pray and seek the help of someone who is older than you and mature,  to guide

you to identify the lies behind our fears.

Simply put, faith is the opposite of fear.

God wants us to walk by faith, but Satan wants us to walk by fear.

When we learn to live by faith and not let fear rule our

life, we can live a fulfilling life.

Faith in what? Faith in the word of God.

Once you have identified your fear and listed your lies, the next step is to replace each of these lies- associated with fear, with truth from the word of God.

The only antidote to a Lie is a truth. And there is nothing more truthful and lasting than the Word of God. So hear the word, read the word, write down the word,

memorise the word, meditate the word.

Romans 12:2 says Every time we meditate on the Word of God our minds are renewed and we have a clarity on what God’s will for us is.

Everytime the lies haunts us and brings in fear, then speak

the truth from the word of God. The more you speak

the truth the weaker those lies becomes. It’s not an

instant thing, it’s a constant exercise, an ongoing

battle.

Contunue speaking the truth and until one day you realise the fear that haunted

you so long, doesn’t have any more power over you.

When you echo your lie ‘I am anxious and afraid’, God says, ‘ You have Peace.  You are bold. You have a sound mind ‘.

How do we know this?

2 Tim 1:7  says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power,love and sound mind. ‘

Now, here’s one of the most important keys to prevent fear:

Be filled with love.

We can cast out fear with love. Perfect love casteth

out fear.

Love is the only affection and emotion that does NOT

produce any fear. In fact, if we truly love God, we need

not fear anything…

As long as we have God’s love in our hearts and lives,

we can expect fear to never bother us. The moment

our love wavers, that’s the same moment  Fear

starts to creep in again.

I once read this beautiful illustration of a father and

two daughters.

A father and his two small daughters once went to the

pool to play. The father jumps into the water ; then one

of the little girls jumps into his arms in the water while

the other ponders by the pool side. The little girl by

the pool side gleefully watches her sister leaping in the water. She dances up and down as her sister splashes.

But when her dad invites her to do the same, she

shakes her head and backs away.

How many of us like the little girl spend life on the

edge of the pool? Consulting caution. Ignoring faith.

Never taking the plunge. Happy to stand outside the

pool and watch others enjoy their life . Preferring to

take no risk.

For fear of the worst, they never enjoy life at its best. I wonder what God has

in store for those standing by the edge of the pool.

Going back to the story……as the little girl stands at the

edge of the pool watching her dad and sister enjoying

in the pool….The father suddenly climbs out of the

pool. Before she could resist he carried the little girl in

his strong arms. …..walked with her towards the pool.

“No daddy….no daddy”, the girl cried.

But father said ,’You are safe in daddy’s hands baby. You are just going to be safe. ‘

They walked into pool. The little girl shut her eyes

tightly. She felt the cool water….she was scared….but

she also realised she was safe in her father’s hands.

Moments passed…..she opened her eyes…..the

fathers arms were still strong around her….she saw her

sister calling her to play. She looked at the father….he

loosened his hold and now merely held her hand. The

father slowly waded with her towards her sister.

Though hesitantly in the beginning, very soon the two

girls began to play with each other in the water.

The little girl didn’t even realise that the father was

NOT holding her now, but was watching her. ….from a

distance.

The little girl was now on her own….enjoying her time.

When love prevails, fear stops from existing.

When love overcomes, fear is suppressed.

And when love reigns, fear is banished.

You say ‘I am anxious and afraid’ but God says’ You are bold. You have a sound mind.  You have peace. ‘

So get ready to

List your lies- Replace it with truth from the word of God.

Fight the good faith- Walk in faith in.the word of God.

Lock yourself in His Love- the everlasting Unfailing love of God  that protects us from all harm.