Day 9 Elephant

OK. So we have been dabbling around the edges of this thing called fear. But I know some of you will have had to deal with some truly terrifying, real, violent, vicious, despicable things in your own life or the lives of people dear to you. And you will be thinking - well Caz its not just as simple as talking yourself out of it or quoting a few Bible verses.

Yes. You are right

So today's thoughts are going to be ..... well, lets just say we arent going to tiptoe around the realities.

The good thing about the Bible is that it shows us the whole spectrum of human behaviour. It tells of rape and murder, abandonment and betrayal, injury and illness. It shows us the very worst of humanity in order that we can see how much we need to be rescued. The fall of man was more than a tragedy. It was the most catastrophic event in the history of the universe. The fall of man gave legal rights to the devil and he has made it his mission to kill, steal and destroy ever since.

One of the major ways fear gets into our lives is through trauma. When we experience a traumatic event we are suddenly completely overwhelmed by whatever it is. Trauma is unexpected. We arent ready for it, we dont see it coming and our souls ( our mind ,will and emotions) are slammed by a tsunami of invading spiritual forces. Lets take a car accident as an example. One minute you are driving along singing to the radio or talking to your travelling companions, and the next minute there's a huge bang, you are flying through the air, utterly disorientated, seatbelt cutting into you, glass flying, people screaming. In those split seconds your spirit is in shock and undefended. And thats when fear rushes in. Even if we walk away without a scratch, the fear remains in your body and spirit. And it will probably show up in the coming days in nightmares, flashbacks, fear of driving, panic attacks etc etc. This isnt your fault. Its how fear works. Its that lion which is prowling around waiting for an opportunity to attack and devour us. And it's in moments of shock that he sees his chance.

If you have suffered abuse, serious illness, sudden bereavement, betrayal, accident or been involved in a disaster like a fire or a flood or a war you will without a doubt have been hijacked by fear. When your body and mind are first and foremost preoccupied with survival you are unlikely to be paying attention to your spirit. But remember the verses about being slaves to fear? (Rom 8;15) Fear is not our master. Jesus is. After a traumatic event fear will immediately start to tell you that God abandoned you, that He wasnt there when you needed Him, that its your fault that disaster overtook you. Fear will tell you that what has happened once will happen again. That nothing is safe. Nobody is safe. It is a very very powerful thing and it can manifest in our bodies not just our thinking. What fear tells us is not true. But it feels true. And the more we agree with fear the harder it is to boot it out and shut it down.

Occasionally fear becomes a stronghold - a walled, defended place which is difficult to breach. If this is the case we need to ask for help. We established when looking at Adam and Eve that the first thing fear wants to make us do is to hide. And that makes it hard for us to drag our fears into the light so Jesus can deal with them. It takes courage. But we cannot let fear isolate us from God or from the family of God. So be brave. Ask for persistent prayer until those walls come down. What brings the walls down? (Jericho - praise. declaration of the truth and people standing with us to march round the walls in faith) We can conscript other people to actively speak the truth to us. Find someone who knows you well and ask them to challenge you every time you speak fear. Constantly put Jesus back on the throne of your life. Remember that scripture tells us that 'The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Whom shall I fear?' Ps 27: 1

(Anyone who has experienced trauma should check out Gabor Mate on youtube. I dont think hes a christian but he has some great insights into trauma and is well worth a watch) 

Yesterday Chris very bravely commented that he finds it difficult to sleep since he experienced the trauma of losing his beautiful wife Angie to cancer.  During her illness he was terrified of waking up to find she had died.  She did die, although in hospice care and not in the way Chris had feared.  But that fear of going to sleep and waking up is a very real and reasonable one with which Im sure we can all identify.  Waiting for someone to die is actually a very strange and discombobulating thing indeed.   Now Chris has remarried he has not been able to regain his ability to sleep. Compounded by his wife's sleep apnoea he is hyper-vigilant during the night.   

Believe it or not I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago when I was on a roll in the 'do not fear' thing. That previous paragraph was inserted yesterday.  Here's what I had already written in advance - obviously specifically for Chris.  Cos God knows and He cares. Deeply.

If you are having nightmares remind your soul of this


Psalm 11:5 ' You will not fear the terror of the night'


Prov 3:24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared.


If you have nightmares and night terrors then these Bible promises provide a solid 100% guarantee that you not only dont have to experience them but that you WILL NOT. What God promises He delivers

Lord please bind all fear, panic, terror, trauma and anxiety in me. Help me to bring deep seated fears into the light and lead me to people who can stand with me and pray for me, I want to push fear far away from me so that I can live fully in the freedom you bought for me by your death on the cross. Thank you that I do not have a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind. Draw near to me this Christmas and set me free to follow you more closely and love you more deeply. Amen