Fighting The Battle of Fear

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I am not the only woman who battles fear.  I am guessing that I am not the only one who can take one simple thought and have it blown WAY out of proportion in less than two seconds.  I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who has suffered from panic attacks when I allow my mind to wander and dream up scenarios.  

Fear and worry have been a huge area of sin in my life and I am confident that it has hindered my spiritual growth along the way.  Fear and worry are hallmarks of a heart that refuses to trust who God is and what He has promised His children.  When I am in this battle, I often go to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.  The second half of verse 6 is often quoted and used when talking about fear, but you shouldn’t miss what comes before.

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

-Verse 3: As a believer in Christ, I don’t fight battles the same way that a non-Christian does. 

-Verse 4: As a believer in Christ, I have the DIVINE power to demolish strongholds.

-Verse 5: As a believer in Christ, I must DEMOLISH arguments and every PRETENSION that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.  The ESV version says “we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.”  What does it mean to “destroy” and “demolish” arguments, pretensions, and lofty opinions?  It means that believers in Christ must use the weapon of God’s word and through the power of the Holy Spirit demolish and destroy any fears, worries, or doubts that we know are contrary to the character of who God is and what He has promised to his Children.  

It is impossible to take captive every thought to Christ, if we don’t replace the lie with the truth of Scripture.  What does it look like in practice? 

Lie: I can not continue to walk in this difficult situation without seeing some sort of answer.

Truth: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 

This week, I was tempted to be filled with worry and doubt about a situation, but I was reminded of this passage and quickly went to it and repeated it over and over in my mind.  I also listened to this great podcast by Martha Peace on “How to Think Biblically.”

As women, we are prone to have worrying and fearful hearts, but as women who are daughters of the King, we must learn to replace our fear and worry with trust.  We must train ourselves to replace the sinful thoughts with the truth of scripture and the truth of God’s character. 

How are you growing in your knowledge of who God is so that you can replace lies with the truth?

What are you currently worrying and fretting over? Will you take the thought "captive"?