In March of this year, an was article posted by The Christian Science Monitor about the war in Ukraine. Belkis Wille, a human rights reporter encountered a two-year-old boy in a shelter who wouldn’t open his eyes. Belkis was reporting potential war crimes when she met the young child’s mother; a beauty salon owner whose face wore new lines of stress and exhaustion. The day before arriving at the shelter, the boy, his mother, and his grandmother were forced to leave their home amid shelling from the Russian aggression. The child’s father and grandfather were forced by the Ukrainian government to stay behind in case they were called upon to join in the fight. Leaving the train, three generations of this family saw their homes and their city devastated by the unmatched trauma of war. The young, scared two-year-old child was traumatized so deeply that he could not bear to watch the reality that was unfolding right before his eyes. So, he decided that he no longer wanted to see. “Look at my son”, the mother cried. “He has not opened his eyes since we left Kharkov.” The child would rather be blind than to deal with the reality and fear.
Fear is a spirit and it is not of God. II Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Fear interrupts the processes of our brain that allows us to regulate our emotions. Fear impacts our behaviors and clouds our judgements. It undermines trust, sabotages rationale, and smothers common sense. Chronic fear weakens our immune system and has a profound effect on our health. Most importantly, fear destroys faith. Faith over fear is the ultimate battle for a child of God. Fear is faith that the enemy has the final say. But the Lord declared that His word, “… shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please…” (Isaiah 55:11). God has the final say!
I know what it is to be overwhelmed with fear of the unknown. Fear can be debilitating when you feel that you have been left with no other option and no way out. If only in those times we could remind ourselves that God can do in a moments time what man can’t do in a lifetime. There comes a time in everyone’s life when you are faced with the choice of choosing faith or fear. If you haven’t been there, you will be. Choosing faith over fear is a deliberate decision. It is a mindset that fear will not rule you. Choosing faith is choosing to believe when life is telling you something different. It’s not always easy. If it were, there wouldn’t be songs and sermons about storms, tests, or trials. There wouldn’t be lyrics that say I will not fear; or songs that declare I have no reason to fear. I declare to you today that when you walk in faith, fear will lose its grip on your life.
The Bible says that it rains on the just and on the unjust. Life simply happens. The enemy will use real life circumstances as a platform to invoke fear and cause you to question your faith. God is calling today for someone to replace their fears with faith in the one who holds your tomorrows! You may not see any hope, but Hebrews 11:1 says, “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. It takes a faith to face reality and declare that your current circumstances will not be your final outcome. We are told to not fear 365 times in scripture. That gives me a reason every day to choose faith! Declare today, “Fear will not rule me! I choose to walk in faith!” Be bold in your declaration! Choose faith over fear and watch God do the miraculous in your life.
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Annette Jordan is a fifth generation Apostolic who grew up involved in ministry. Together with her husband, Pastor Philip Jordan, they have been involved in full time ministry for over thirty-two years and currently pastor in Frankfort, Indiana. Annette ministers in her home church as well as at various events nationally and internationally. The Jordans have three sons who are all licensed ministers with the United Pentecostal Church International and three beautiful daughters-in-law (Gentry and Destiny, Spencer and Kaitlyn, Dillon and Keila).
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