If you have suffered from abuse, then you have most likely developed certain thought patterns that even if you’ve left your abuser leave you feeling afraid, uneasy, and anxious. Something happens to you when you are living in a constant state of fear, wondering what bad thing will happen next. It changes you, it leaves you weak, confused, it leaves you afraid.
But this is not how God wants you to live.
I’ve struggled with this area in my life for many years. Always having a hint of fear living beneath the surface. Even though abuse is no longer a part of my life, it could be anything: my husband dying in a car accident, something bad happening to one of my friends or family members, fear of man, etc. I may have left a fearful situation, however, the fear never really left me.
I am becoming more wise to it now, I’m seeing it for what it really is – a lie. I’d heard the sayings for many years, ‘fear and faith cannot live in the same body’ and while that had a nice ring to it, I never fully understood it or grasped the concept in such a powerful way as I have recently.
I am starting to understand that it isn’t necessarily the abuse that the enemy wanted to weaken me with (which he did a good job of that), however, it is the fear that has been keeping me weak even all these years later. If you think about it, a few years of abuse for decades of fear – he knew what he was doing.
BUT – I’m now seeing the truth more clearly than I ever have before. I have a choice to make each day, and even in a moment by moment basis. Am I going to respond to this situation with fear and cowardice, or am I going to respond in faith and strength?
Any thought that produces fear or that makes me feel bad about myself, makes me feel weak or a victim isn’t from God. That is not His plan for my life. Therefore, the thoughts are not truth, they are lies. I am starting to recognize this more and more. I am paying attention to how I am feeling and then asking myself what am I thinking about – and HOW am I thinking about it? In moments of high fear, I am retraining my brain by saying out loud: “I am not going to die”. I am quoting scripture out loud such as 2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given (me) a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Then, I am thanking Him for giving me power, for loving me, and giving me a sound mind.
I believe that these fearful thoughts are the fiery darts of the enemy in Ephesians 6:16:
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
The enemy knows that small assaults on our minds on an ongoing basis is just as effective as immersing us in a tragedy. The result is the same. We do not live in faith – believing, trusting in God, walking in victory and overcoming life’s challenges. We become weak, afraid, and ineffective.
If you are in a similar situation, living in a constant state of underlying fear, then I encourage you to retrain your mind to no longer approach situations in weakness and in fear, to start renewing your mind with God’s word and standing firm against the enemy and the thoughts that are not of God. I encourage you to choose a different way; to choose truth which is found in God’s word – which will in turn produce faith. (I’ve been reading Ephesians chapter 1 lately – it is a beautiful chapter on God’s love if you’d like to start here).
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment (torment). The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Prayer
Lord, I confess that I’ve been living in fear and not trusting in you. Please forgive me for allowing the enemy to fill my mind with lies and for believing them over Your word; over Your truth. I pray that you would give me a revelation of how much You love me. Help me to be mindful of my thoughts each and every day and in every circumstance that makes me afraid. Help me to speak your word out loud over my life to build my faith and renew my mind. Help me to live according to 2 Corinthians 10: 5 and take every thought captive so that I can overcome my fear with faith.
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Out of the Grave 
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