His faithfulness will be a protective shield. You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day, the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon. Psalm 91:6 HCSB
I don’t really consider scary movies scary, I consider them intense. It’s not afraid, I am on the edge of my seat willing the hero or heroine to successfully escape from or defeat the bad guy. It’s the real life things that I consider scary. I think it’s very scary when one day you are living your life doing your best to care for a family member and the next day you find yourself entangled in a court battle. I think it’s scary when you are attending your church and serving the LORD only to find that a Jezebel spirit has overtaken church members and is working to rapidly destroy your church. I think it’s scary when so-called friends or even family members turn on you and perpetrate evil against you and you have no idea why. These are the things I used to fear. I used to fear evil people that are without Jesus in their lives. So, I will admit it took some practice to be able to not fear these things or these people. It didn’t happen overnight, I had to work on it. It was a gradual process. But, it was such a freeing process.
You see, the devil uses fear to distract us so that he can tie us up and bind us. We become entangled in our fear and it paralyzes us and we don’t serve the LORD as we should. Fear is a very powerful tool of the devil and we must be able to identify its source and overcome it. But, how do you do that? Well, I’m glad you asked.
When my fear took me to rock bottom, when I was paralyzed in fear and crouched in the “What ifs?” worrying about what if this happened or that happened, I had begun a Bible study on God’s armor by Priscilla Shirer. This study used God’s word to address the armor that God provides for us in Ephesians 6:10-18. God gives us armor to protect us. My friend Pamela lead this Bible study which was just what I needed at the time. She gave parting gifts when the study was over. One of those gifts was the book, Psalm 91 God’s Shield of Protection by Peggy Joyce Ruth. What a life changer this was. I began to pray this Psalm daily. It covers anything we could possibly fear and promises God’s protection. How awesome is that?
In Psalm 91 God promises to shelter us. He promises to cover us with his feathers so that we can be safe under His wings just like a baby chick under the protective wings of the momma hen. He promises to give his angels orders to guard us and support us with their hands. He promises us that we will have the power to tread on the cobra and the lion. Wow!
As I began to pray this Psalm the fear just faded away and faith took its place. Psalm 91:10 says no harm shall overcome you, no plague will come near your tent. My friend we should all be taking the proper precautions, but we should not fear.
Trust in God, He’s got this. He holds your future in His very capable hands. Let go of your fear and get busy working for God. We all have extra time on our hands while we are practicing social distancing, put that time to good use.
Now if you are without God in your life, then do what it says in Psalm 91:1, turn to Him and choose to reside in the shelter that He provides. It’s not too late to turn to Him and trust in Him.
If Christians will stand firm in faith and show the rest of the world what it’s like to live under God’s protection, just imagine the revival that we could experience in this country.
Dear Lord, I thank you for the protection that you promise in Psalm 91. I pray today that we will boldly trust in you. I pray that we will use good common sense and take proper precautions, but that we will not fear because we know that you love us (John 3:16) and work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). I pray that this will bring the much needed revival to our country. I pray that we will experience physical and spiritual healing throughout our land. I trust in you LORD. I bring you glory, and honor, and praise. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Have a great fear free weekend!