II Timothy 1:7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Ro- mans 8:15, For ye have not rec e ive d the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye
have rec eived the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father.
There is a spirit of fear and it’s not from God. Yet many people make decisions based on fear, some make decisions based on fear of lack, or fear of dying, fear of growing old alone; fear of something happening to their kids, and on and on the list goes.
We all must make decisions every day but it’s vital as to what we allow to influence our decisions.
I read a story once about a husband and wife who were in the ministry and God was doing great things through them. Then they started getting threats on their lives and lives of their children. They became very alarmed by them, to the point that the husband sent his wife and children to another country to stay with another family they knew well.
When the wife and children arrived at the home of the family where they would be staying, they brought them in their home and did their best to make them feel at home. But they realized the wife was very anxious, she was afraid for her husband’s life.
The man of the house told her a story I’ve not forgotten, though it’s been many years since I read it.
He said, “In a pride of lions there is a king and this king spends his life fighting off other male lions that want the position of king. After many years of fighting, the king grows older and loses teeth and claws, and is no longer able to fight off the other male lions.
“But they don’t run off the old king, instead they give him a job. His job is to go out with the hunter lions. They put him on one side of the trail where he hides in the bushes, and the hunter lions get in place on the other side of the trail. When the antelope comes down the trail, the old lion roars with all he has and the antelope runs away from him, and run into the trap of the hunter lions.”
The point of the story is, that the antelopes’ decision was fear based and he ran right into the trap of the lions. If the antelope would have resisted the temptation to run because of fear, but rather kept calm and trusted his instincts, he could have went on down the trail and avoided the trap of the enemy.
I Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
One tactic of the enemy is to try to motivate people by fear and if we yield to it, we become snared by it.
Proverbs 29:25, The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whose putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.
We’re told over and over in the scriptures to fear not. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
So how do we do that, stand against being moved by fear? First, We need to recognize what we’re yielding to. Am I making this decision based on fear? Honestly ask yourself the question, “Why am I doing this?” And then be open to hear.
As Christians, we’re not to make decisions based on fear but rather based on peace.
Colossians 3:15 says, And let the peace of God rule in your hearts then. The word rule means to be an umpire. In other words, make your decisions based on peace, not fear or circumstances.
Notice it says to let peace rule in your heart. So when you ask yourself the question, “Should I make this decision or not?” Stop and get quiet and listen on the inside. Is there peace in your heart?
Your head may be saying no, what if this happens? But if while you’re thinking about it and you have peace on the inside – this is when you lean not to your own understanding, but trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Follow peace, that’s how God leads us. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
