God always desires to reveal truth in the inmost places of our hearts, so I asked Him to show me what lies I was believing about myself and about Him that were causing me to react in such an extreme state of shut-down paralysis.
It is so important to ask Him, “Where are You in this picture, God?” or maybe more appropriately, “Where have I put You in this picture, God?” When you ask God to reveal truth, He is always faithful to do so. His heart is always to heal your heart! I’ve listed below all He revealed that I was believing, and as you’re reading this list think about whether you’ve ever felt this way:
Lies About Myself:
- I’m unprotected.
- I’m all alone.
- I have to fight for myself.
- I’m on my own now.
- I’m totally abandoned.
- There’s no hope, there’s nothing that can be done, there’s nothing I can do to make a difference, this outcome is set in stone.
- I can’t question messages from authority.
- I have to take in whatever is spoken to me.
- I’m not going to make it.
Lies About God
- He’s not with me.
- He abandoned me.
- He disappeared.
- He’s nonexistent.
- He’s out of the picture.
- He’s just watching until He comes back.
- He’s not getting involved.
- He’s pulled out completely and is letting evil reign.
- He doesn’t care what happens to me.
- He doesn’t care about the details of my life.
- He won’t protect me.
- He’s not accessible.
- I can’t break through His wall.
The Spiritual Battle Behind Fear
When God shows us these lies, the only way we can break free from them is to use spiritual weapons of warfare.
Second Corinthians 10:4 tells us that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” and Ephesians 6:12 emphasizes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Therefore, our battle (in this case, against fear) is not against flesh and blood—that is what we can see. Rather, our true battle is against what we cannot see in this world with our earthly eyes.
So if our battle is not of this world and not of the flesh, how do we think using earthly or fleshly weapons (which rely on our own strength and wisdom) will ever free us from fear? They can’t and they won’t. Have you ever tried to stop fear by trying not to think about it, telling someone else about it, running from it, or by just plain shutting down so you don’t have to feel it (or anything else)? Well, I’ve tried all of these fleshly weapons and I can confidently say that none of them work, not in the long run and not for true freedom!
That’s because we have to see that fear is more than just an emotion, although oftentimes a justified one, it’s a weapon that our enemy uses against us in the unseen, very real spiritual battle.