“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4 :18
Several years ago, I dreamt about a woman who told me to repeat after her. When I woke up, I could only remember one of the phrases:
“The enemy is a toeless lion!”
During the first moments of waking up, those words made no sense to me. But as I rolled out of bed and sipped my coffee, I remembered the words of the apostle Peter. The ones about the enemy prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). In those early morning hours, I realized God was letting me in on a secret:
The enemy may prowl around like a lion, but he has no balance or ability to stand in my life.
Without toes, you can’t walk or stand. You just fall. A lot. And that’s the reality of our enemy. The thing is, he’s really good at roaring and I am really good at listening to his roar.
But the truth is he can’t even stand. He can’t do anything. He just uses his words. His lies. His same old patterns. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. That’s satan’s game. And it’s one where he douses us with lies about ourselves, our future, and our abilities (or lack thereof) as often and as furiously as possible.
In my own life, I have walked through a time of deep healing from a life-long battle against fear and anxiety. Through this process, which is never really “over”, I have learned a lot about fear and love and how they often operate in our lives.
First of all, fear is the language of the enemy. And fear always says, “NO!”
Fear has told me:
No, you will never write that book.
No, you’re not smart enough to do that.
No, remember those miscarriages? You will never have a baby.
No, God will never heal your marriage. You should just leave now.
No, remember last time you tried that? You gave up. You will give up on this, too. Why bother?
No, because you will die. Then what happens?
Fear is the master fibber, fabricator, and false prophet. satan (No, this is not a typo. I simply refuse to capitalize on the name of one who seeks to capitalize on our brokenness) operates out of fear and spirals toward creating chaos in our hearts and mind. How? By roaring lies at us as loud as he can and hoping we will fall under the weight of it all. The result? A “toeless” life. One that is crippled and incapable of moving forward. Paralyzed in a riptide of stagnation.
However…
The thing about love is love is the language of the Father. And love always says, “Yes!”
Love tells me:
Yes, you can and will write that book.
Yes, all things are possible with me and you have the mind of Christ. (Mark 9:23 ; 1 Corinthians 2:16)
Yes, I am the giver of life. So, “rejoice O barren one!” (Isaiah 54:1-3)
Yes, I will bring not only healing but redemption to your marriage and the story I am telling through it. (Isaiah 35)
Yes, I will complete the good work I began in you. Just stay with me. (Philippians 1:6; John 15:5-11)
Yes, you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 27:13)
Love is the master truth-teller and life-giver. Love is the nature of God Himself. He is my Father. And He is good. Love has movement. Love heals every wound and strengthens the muscles of our souls to finish the race set before us – a race full of hurdles and mud holes, but also one full of the grace to endure to the end.
Love gives rest to our weariness and power to the scattered and divided mind. Stagnant water makes you sick, but the Living Water keeps us from thirst (John 7:37; Isaiah 55:1). It heals the places that are broken and remind our hearts that the water He gives us will always be more than enough (John 4:13). Love is not offended by fear and is secure in its supernatural ability to give life to our bones and the ability to say “yes” to every journey before us while casting out the fear that “toelessly” attempts to make us quit before we even begin.
In the gospels, whenever Jesus encountered fear, he didn’t deal with fear but rather focused on instilling His love, faith, and peace in its place. In Jesus, perfect love in human form, fear lost its power on the cross and its ability to hold us down at the resurrection.
We choose whether to let fear in and make its home in our hearts. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
There is no more room for fear because our hearts become so overwhelmed by a perfect love that it seeps from every crack created by the hardness and heaviness of fear. This is where wholeness begins to become our reality. And we find the beloved disciple’s words to not only be true but experiential for us today: “Perfect love drives out fear.”
Listening to the voice of love and rejecting the voice of the accuser requires asking Jesus what He says about the lies we are hearing and believing. Trust me, He will guide you to scriptures you can cling to when the lies fire your way. God is always moving in the opposite direction of the enemy. When the enemy runs toward fear, God calls us up toward His love so that “after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 5:13).
What is the voice of fear saying to you?
Ask Jesus what He says about those fears.
Journal His response.
September 3, 2020