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Christians Must Be Victorious Over Fear

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I learned that whenever things get too bad and your fears are screaming at you, remind yourself that the most common command in the Bible is “Fear not,” and start quoting Scripture out loud.

Why out loud? Because the rhema word of God is the sword of the Spirit Ephesians 6 refers to. Rhema means “spoken aloud.” This is how we fight. The rhema word is part of a soldier’s gear and when we go into battle, we need to suit up correctly and carry the proper weapons. No soldier goes into a war zone dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, carrying a plastic fork to fight with. He or she wears armor suited for battle. Pick up your sword and fight. 

Fear is a complicated emotion. It can sometimes motivate us, but more often than not it paralyzes us. As Christians, once we allow fear to dominate our lives, we stop progressing. We stop living. This paralysis thwarts the calling you have on your life, the blessings of victory God wants to bestow on you, and the abundance of joy that comes from being thankful for another day rather than fearing it.

Yet, how do we choose faith over fear? Simple: we press into God. We press into His Word. We combat the lies our fears bring with the truths that God brings. Fear is always about lies. Faith is always about truth. With the promises of God as our evidence, we can win daily if we simply keep choosing the victory of faith. Sadly, we often exalt the god of lies and confusion, rather than the God of truth and peace. In all honesty, Aunt Josephine, like me, made covenant after daily covenant with her mouth in agreement with her fears and Satan’s lies. Going for this job will only end in heartache because they will not hire me, because I never get hired. That simple agreement out of my mouth, coupled with the apparent lie that anybody besides God is responsible for promotion, gives the enemy enough to stop me from going for my dreams. In its own way, fear can become an idol which takes our focus away from God and leaves us to fret over “what if”?

Besides speaking out loud, how else can we combat our fears? 

Many fears are born from a desire to control the outcome, rather than trusting in obedience in God. In this scenario, you don’t want to get your heart broken by going for yet another job—so you don’t apply. It’s uncomfortable for many of us control freaks to actually let go and let God be in control of our outcomes and of us. But in your choice for victory, you have to do just that. He has a plan. Your fear is likely that you won’t like His plan or that you have to do something to further His plan to make it happen in your timing. Our timing, of course, is always now. His is not. This is scary. Not knowing what tomorrow may bring is enough to make anybody afraid, especially when we have lived through some pretty awful yesterdays. But no matter how “on lock” we think we have our tomorrows, we honestly don’t have a clue what they will bring. Only God does. 

Once you realize how integral faith is to your ability to choose victory, you learn the next big weapon to fight fear: Obedience. It’s critical.

Obedience isn’t control. When you follow Christ, you are to let Him be sovereign over the outcome of your obedience. Yet I know many who struggle with wanting to know what will happen before they obey. They want to know if their victory is assured before they choose to be obedient to the God who brings the victory. But we just can’t know! Knowing isn’t trusting, and victory requires trust. 

In John 21, Jesus also told Peter about his future, saying,

“Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” ( , NIV).

Following Jesus leads us to opportunities to choose to surrender more control of our lives each day. 

This is an excerpt for exclusive use by CBN from I Choose Victory: Moving from Victim to Victor by Cynthia Garrett (copyright May 5, 2020; Salem Books). 

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About The Author

Cynthia
Garrett

A native Californian, Cynthia Garrett received her graduate degree in Law from The University of Southern California Law School. Concurrently, she studied comparative law at the prestigious Oxford University in England. As a television personality, Cynthia launched her career with MTV Networks and became the face of sister channel VH1, hosting everything from LIVE events and awards shows, including the GRAMMYS, BILLBOARD AWARDS, EMMYS, VMA’s, and DIVAS LIVE, to self-titled specials and multiple series and broadcasts centered around her unique hosting and interviewing skills. Notably, she