Fear: Satan's Trump Card

by Kris
(Pearl, Mississippi, USA)

Last time we met, I ended the lesson saying that our next topic to discuss would be fear.

God�s word does not promise us that we will not face circumstances that are frightening to us, nor does God promise to immediately deliver us from the fearful circumstance once we turn to Him! (See the story of Daniel and the lions� den in Daniel 6 and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3) He DOES promise, as seen in these 2 stories and countless others that He will never leave us.

Fear steals our joy and prevents us from living the victorious life that God intended for His children. Fear is a trump card for Satan and is an emotion common to everyone. Satan uses it to distract us, to confuse us, to cause us to doubt God�s goodness and faithfulness, and to stop us inour tracks; but a fearful circumstance can also provide us with a blessed opportunity to trust our Father to be faithful to His word �I will not leave you� and to gain courage in our walk with Him. Our comfort is not found in knowing the outcome of a fearful circumstance, but in knowing that God is with us and is not leaving! When I talk about dealing with fear, please understand...I know what fear is and exactly what it feels like.

This summer, after 2 years being cancer free, tests revealed that not only did I have cancer again, but it had invaded more if the tissue of my larynx and was more aggressive than before. Added to this was the news that it was inoperable.
I will save all the other details for other posts. The important thing to know now is that I had to face my 2 biggest fears: cancer recurrence and radiation.

The FIRST thing I had to realize was that the thing feared was not what I knew (I have cancer), but rather what I didn�t know (Will the cancer will kill me? Will I lose my voice permanently? How sick will the radiation make me?).

We fear the unknown, what we cannot control, and what we do not understand. There is nothing at all we can do about the unknown...it will remain unknown until it is known.

I want to use Mary, the Mother of Jesus, as an example of what to do with the �what ifs� that go along with the "unknowns" of life. Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she�d bear a son, which made no sense, since she was a virgin. You can read all about it in Luke Chapter 1. I want to draw attention to verse 38:

�I am the Lord�s servant,� Mary answered. �May it be to me as you have said.�

Mary must have had a million �what ifs�, but she knew who she served. She knew who was in control. She knew that God would take care of the details and that He had a plan and a purpose. Just think of the blessing she received....the Mother of the Savior of the world!

Granted, we�ll not likely be visited by the angel Gabriel and given a message from God about things which we cannot understand. But we DO have God�s Word and His Word tells us �Do not be afraid�.

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) reassures us:
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I am thankful to say that I DID apply this lesson to my situation this summer. I truly trusted that God would not leave me and that He had a plan and a purpose for me having cancer. I can honestly say that my prayer was that God would use my battle with cancer to bring glory to Him, to strengthen the faith of those around me and to further strengthen my relationship with Him.

Now, after the fact, not only has God delivered me from cancer once again, but I can see where my battle with cancer touched others� lives. I can see where God was working even while I was so sick. I am blessed in that can honestly say that I trusted Him completely during that frightening time in my life...and my relationship with Him and my testimony is stronger for it.

What are you afraid of?


How can God use this situation to use you to bring glory to Himself?
By strengthening your faith?
By strengthening the faith of those around you?


Do you believe that God will never leave you? If so, do you believe that this promise is enough to get you through frightening times?? If not, I challenge you to search His Word for this promise.

Let�s pray:
Father God,
Help me to search Your Word for truths about Your faithfulness to Your children. Instill in my heart a total and complete trust in You alone. Help me learn to stop using my circumstances as a measure of my safety and security and to learn instead to trust in my relationship with You. Help me to trust that You have a plan and a purpose in all things so that I will not be overwhelmed and frightened when I face the unknown.
Amen