It’s Just a Demon!

Are You Living Fearlessly?

When given an option to rank your fears, studies have proven most people will list public speaking before death. Imagine that! Between the option of standing on a stage to deliver a talk or jumping off a cliff, many would gaze longingly at the cliff.

Fear of public speaking is so tormenting, so horrifying, they fear it more than the loss of their life! They fear the fear more than the result.

That’s the power of our fears. And that’s what God will defeat for us.

How?

It happened on the cross. We talk a lot about the promises God has given us—about receiving forgiveness, health, and prosperity but how often do we talk about the power to overcome our fears? We have that as a promise, too. The deliverance from all fear was paid for by Jesus.

 Do you want to live boldly? Do you want to feel brave? Do you want to live fearlessly? When we fully understand what Jesus did for us, we can live a renewed freedom. We can walk with security and confidence, without fear.

 It’s a promise from God. And it’s time we believed it.

 Take the Stage

Remember those people who feared public speaking? Well, that’s this girl. Right here. It terrified me. And there was no way to escape.

While attending Bible college, we were all given the assignment of a ten-minute public talk on a verse out of Philippians.

They told us about this assignment on the first day of school. So, I knew it was coming. And I was absolutely terrified.

I knew it was illogical. Fearing death or fearing pain or fearing the loss of a loved one, that made sense. Fearing public speaking did not. But there I was being completely illogical and petrified.

Knowing it was coming, I decided it would be better to sign up to be one of the first to speak instead of sitting through thirty other people speaking, all while I grew more and more nervous. If I got mine out of the way, I could relax.

Right? Right?!

Jump off the Cliff

On a ministry trip to South Africa, our family went paragliding. It wasn’t planned at all. One minute we’re ministering at a church, the next we’re jumping off a mountain.

I don’t know how that happened.

The pastor at the church where we were ministering apparently overheard one of our kids mentioning how fun it would be to paraglide, and I not realizing I was signing over my life in that moment agreed.

When we finished ministering, the pastor invited us into his car and off we went. Of course, Ashley and I thought he was just taking us to lunch! That’s usually what happens. But, nope. He decided to “gift” us with a paragliding adventure.

So, we drove up this mountain and, the next thing we know, we’ve signed disclaimers and they’re outfitting us in equipment. When I realized I was up first, I said, “What? Me first? Let me go say goodbye to my family!”

Real woman of faith and power right there.

Knowing that the edge awaited me, knowing there was no way out of it, knowing the fear would never relent, knowing this wasn’t the lunch I’d hoped for I ran with the instructor anyway, and we jumped off the mountain.

It was incredible.

I’m so glad I did it. It was an experience I will never forget. The memory of that day could have been one of fear and anxiety, but because I didn’t let fear win, I have a treasured memory of a joy-filled thrill.

Face the Fear

Not every fear requires leaping from a mountain top to be tamed. Sometimes most times it simply requires you face it head on. Like my ten-minute talk in Bible college.

Instead of running from it, I ran toward it. But not before God gave me a stern talking to about His plan and my plan and which one needed to change. He showed me that He had called me to teach and preach in front of people.

I, of course, argued with Him over this. I didn’t want to do it.

You see, Ashley is the life of the party. He’s the one with the funny stories. I’m the one laughing at them. He’s Mr. Big Personality. I’m Mrs. Introvert. He’s exuberant. I’m happy to live in a cabin in the woods.

What I saw for my future was to be Ashley’s support. He could do the ministering. I could make the coffee.

God had other plans.

“Listen,” I told God, “Ashley’s your man. I’m the support personnel. I’ll be the backup team.”

The Lord, in reply, laid it out pretty straight with me. “You don’t want to do this because you’re afraid to do this. Are you seriously not going to do what I’ve called you to do? Are you not going to fulfill the plans and purposes I have for your life simply because you’re afraid?”

That hit me at a heart level.

God was telling me that fear was only an emotion, an emotion He could free me from and give me control over. I wanted the fear to go away first, but God was saying He would give me the courage to do whatever He called me to do.

I was afraid to do it. But God said, “Do it afraid.”

Faith Versus Fear

Once I accepted that fear would be part of the process, God directed me forward. I made a commitment to Him that the next time I had an opportunity to speak, I would say yes. And I’d keep saying yes every time the opportunity came.

The minute I agreed to face my fear, it made me trust God because I knew I could not do it in the flesh, in the natural, in my own strength.

That’s where faith and fear collide. They are complete opposites. Fear paralyzes us from moving; faith strengthens us to forge ahead.

In 1 John, we read about the torment of fear. It overwhelms us to the point we completely stop. We stop doing things, stop acting, stop taking the opportunities in front of us. Faith, however, undoes all that fear damage. It motivates us. It activates us. It gives us the power to take those opportunities when they come.

Fear isn’t going to go away, or even be placed in the background, without a fight. Get ready to rumble because it will war with you: mentally and physically. You will need to throw yourself on the Lord. You will need His help to overcome it.

Facing my fear of public speaking wasn’t a passive activity. It was a high-intensity workout! It was a battle in my mind. I had to ask myself some serious questions and seek my heart for the answers.

Did I believe God was bigger than this situation? Did I believe He was big enough to come through for me? Did I trust Him to protect me from shame, embarrassment, and people’s opinions even if I messed up? Did I believe He was big enough to deal with my heart if the circumstances turned ugly?

I had to give God His rightful dominion over the consequences. When we operate in fear, the consequences are our responsibility. When we operate in faith, they are God’s.

 I would much rather have God be responsible for the consequences of my actions when I’m operating in faith than me being responsible for them when I’m operating in fear.

Fighting on the Frontlines

Making a decision to move forward in faith is the first, and most crucial, step toward living fearlessly. But it isn’t the last. You still have to get into the fight.

Confronting what’s coming will be easier now because you’ve got security. God will be with you. Remember, He’s the one responsible for the consequences, but you’ve still got to step onto the battlefield.

When I started accepting public speaking opportunities, I had to contend with the realities of my fear. As I prepared my message, my mind would trigger a physical response. My flesh would rise up. My heart would beat faster. Adrenaline would shoot into my system. I’d wrestle with that fight or flight instinct.

You know what I’m talking about.

The moment your mind starts to fear, your body doesn’t try to talk your mind out of it. It goes along to get along. It jumps on board. It even offers to drive.

 In your mind, you start hearing all these sirens going off: “You’re going to perish. You’re going to perish. You. Are going. TO PERISH.” You worry you’ll pass out, and you feel yourself starting to pass out. You fear you’ll get tongue-tied, and you start getting tongue-tied.

 I get it because I’ve been there. When I was living in fear, I just took it. When I decided to live in faith, I started talking back, literally.

“Shut up, flesh. Listen to me. This is what we’re going to do, and I don’t care if you like it or not. You can have your hissy fit elsewhere. I’m not letting you keep me from what God’s called me to do. I’m not going to let this emotion rent space in my head.”

Panic was trying to take over, and I had to confront it. Instead of letting it be the master, I started speaking to my body. I told my adrenaline, “Calm yourself down,” and my racing heart, “Settle.” And my body started to listen.

The more I practiced addressing my body and not concentrating on my fear, the less I felt that emotion and the less those physical symptoms appeared. That cycle of fear ended more quickly.

When Fear Becomes Reality

Unlike me, Ashley never feared public speaking. He comes alive out there. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t also contend with fear. We all do! Every one of us. Even confident gents like my husband. For Ashley, his fear actually happened in the most inopportune moment. It was adorable, but he didn’t think so. I’ll let him tell you about it:

I fear making a fool of myself. It has hindered me from saying yes to things because I think, What if I mess up and get made fun of? Well, my fear actually came true, back when Carlie and I were dating, when I met her friends for the first time.

We joined her church youth group and some of her other friends I hadn’t met—about 25 of them— for a game of 10-pin bowling. Here was my issue: I had to make a good first impression and I feared I wouldn’t. So, I chose my clothes carefully, which was a pair of baggy jeans. (Hey, it was 20-years ago. They were super fashionable.) And, we went bowling.

When we got there, we were late. Everyone else was already there and had everyone’s names programmed into the game. They were ready to go and, of course, my name came up first. ‘A’ for Ashley, I guess.

I stepped up, knowing this was my chance to make a good first impression.

It’s important to understand here that I knew nothing about bowling. So, I chose the heaviest bowling ball I could find. I could barely lift it, but I was out to impress. I knew I had to make this good. I thought, If I can make a strike on my first bowl, they’ll be wowed. They’ll be really impressed by this man of God that Carlie is going to marry.

 I stepped onto the lane carrying the heaviest bowling ball I could find and wearing the most fashionable baggy jeans I own. I was ready to impress. So, I gave it everything I had.

That’s when it all went wrong.

My thumb got stuck in the bowling ball, which messed up my release, and then I slipped on my baggy jeans. The ball ended up flying down the lane the wrong way and heading into the crowd. I ended up on my face sliding toward the pins. I made it halfway down the lane before I stopped!

In that moment, I remember laying there thinking, This is the worst first impression I could possibly make. It was awful, but you know what? It wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. Yet again, the something bad actually happening was less tormenting than the fear of something bad happening.

How does the story end?

I still got the girl!

Power Over the Worst

 When you think about your worst fears, they seem insurmountable, don’t they? How do you ever stop fearing illness? Or loss? Or, the worst of them all, death? How do you get to a place in life where the idea of dying or losing a loved one doesn’t immediately strike panic?

 With man, it would not be possible. But, with God, all things are possible. All things. Even this.

Overcoming your fears is not about dismissing or belittling them. These are reasonable, honest, and universal fears. They’re real. They’re frightening. They’re serious situations. Getting power over our fears isn’t about minimizing their reality but putting that reality into a godly perspective.

As born-again Christians, we have a future that does not need to be feared. In truth, we can’t lose for winning. When something bad comes into our lives, we are still in the hands of God. That means when illnesses come, we can go to our loving Father for healing and wholeness. Even if the worst possible outcome happens, we have an eternity with Jesus waiting.

In every situation in life, wherever we are in need, God is with us. He will provide. We’re safe with Him.

Believing this is how we stop giving fear any authority. But that believing part is a bit like climbing Mt. Everest, right?

Fear’s Power Denied

God has broken fear for you already. Did you know that? He removed its authority when He redeemed us from the curse.

 In Deuteronomy 28, we learn about the curses Christ overcame on the cross and the blessings He offers us today. Verses 1 through 14 show us all the blessings God’s children can receive today, while verses 15 onward illustrate all the things Jesus redeemed for us by the shedding of His blood.

 As we go down the chapter, we come to verse 66, which will give us a fresh perspective on our fear:

Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life.

Doesn’t this sound terrible?

 Hold on. We’re not done. This is a journey and our next stop is new eyes to see. Look at verse 67:

In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning’…

In other words, no matter where we find ourselves, we’ll find reasons to be dissatisfied. We’re always trying to be somewhere else because we think somewhere else will be better. Why are we so dissatisfied?

…because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.

Galatians 3:13 says Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law. When you read chapter 28 of Deuteronomy today, only the blessings apply. Every curse has been cancelled. No more terror at what our eyes see or our hearts feel. No more wishing to avoid our lives and be somewhere or someone else. No more unsettling dissatisfaction.

Fear is part of the curse that no longer has any right to us. We are redeemed.

Power over the Mind’s Eye

 When my babies were toddlers, they caught a terrible bug. It was awful. The sickness. The diarrhea. The laundry to keep up. I was running from one disaster to the next.

 Moms, you know what I mean.

During all this, I woke up one night at one in the morning with my stomach churning, the room spinning, and a sickness setting in. The symptoms were all there, right down to the sweats and stomach pain.

 Off to the bathroom I went. And it wasn’t pretty. Let’s just say, I did not look like a woman of faith and power at that moment.

With the trash can positioned strategically in front of me, butt on the throne, and my entire body ready to heave, I suddenly realized I had power in this situation.

 “I’m going to speak to these symptoms,” I told myself, “and I’m going to get my faith on. This is all going to subside. All these symptoms are going to stop.”

I bound and loosed—literally. I spoke in power. I commanded my guts to calm down!

 And nothing. No change.

So, I asked the Lord, “What is it? I’m doing what I know to be doing. I know life and death are in the power of the tongue. I’m commanding, binding, and loosing, aren’t I? Why isn’t this working?”

God spoke to me and said, “It’s because you’re afraid.”

He showed me I already had history with this illness. I had days and days of seeing it play out with my babies. The sickness. The diarrhea. All the consequences. I was overwhelmed by the fear in my heart.

In my mind, I was already imagining myself with those symptoms, and I was overwhelmed with the fear of the consequences coming. I was already making plans to manage those consequences, like taking the next day off work and getting help with the kids.

 It was subtle, but my mind was already playing through how I would manage the flu. The problem is we aren’t designed to manage but to believe.

Faith Sees Hope

 Fear is the opposite of faith. Where fear paints a bleak picture, faith illustrates all that is possible. Where fear focuses on destruction, faith strategizes for a positive future.

Even though the words I was speaking to my trash can were good, there was no faith behind them. In 2 Corinthians 4:13, it says we believe and, therefore, we speak. Sometimes we may find ourselves saying all the right things, but not believing them because of our fear.

I’ve seen this from believers in all kinds of ministry situations. Many times, their prayer turns into frantically chanting, “In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus.” They are allowing fear to be their motivator. When that happens, they see lots of activity, lots of torment, and no results.

 However, when faith is our motivator, we have peace.

Maybe, like me, you’ve found yourself saying all the right things and seeing no change or no answer. It wasn’t until I realized all my binding and loosing was still rooted in fear that I found my faith. That’s when things turned around.

In minutes, the symptoms left.

Fear’s Antidote

John 16:33 is what I like to call “fear’s antidote.” In this verse, Jesus says,

 I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration…

 Here’s the part where hope walks through the door:

 …but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]!

 That is how we’d describe being fearless, isn’t it?

For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you] (AMPC).

I love that. When we’re operating in faith rather than fear, we can acknowledge that we may feel fear in the flesh because it’s based on real circumstances. However, we choose faith instead. We choose not to dwell on that fear, but to put our trust and confidence in God.

 In our own strength, we could not do this. But, we’re not in our own strength! We’re trusting in God’s confidence, God’s boldness, and God’s strength. Thank you, Lord, for depriving the world of the power to harm me!

Just a Demon

 Years ago, I was leading a team of Bible college students on a mission trip to Russia. We were to host a pastors’ conference, with men and women coming from all over Russia to join us. The night before the big event, the team stayed in various houses in a small village in a remote part of the country.

 I was staying in a home with one of my co-leaders and a woman with a three-month-old baby. In the middle of the night, around one in the morning, there was a knock at my bedroom door. The other leader woke me because something was wrong with the little baby boy. They’d been praying and praying and hoped I could help.

We headed to another room where the baby’s mother held the small child as he cried and cried. This was not a typical fussy cry or even a cry of pain. I could feel right away that there wasn’t a medical issue or physical problem with the child. Healing was not what he needed.

 I could sense in my spirit that there was a demonic presence in the room, and it was tormenting the sweet baby. Together, we all read and spoke out Psalm 91, just one simple yet powerful psalm. Instantly, peace came over the room and the boy fell asleep in his mother’s arms. I thought, Cool. That’s dealt with.

I went back to my own bedroom, and the moment I walked in I felt something very different in the space than when I’d left. It was incredibly cold. A chill was in the air like an icy frost. I snuggled myself deep under my covers, trying find some warmth.

The room was also terribly dark, so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. As I lay in bed, trying to warm up and get some sleep, I felt a cold jet stream run through my body like an ice cube on my spine.

An impossible heaviness came over me, like the deep darkness of the room was trying to get on the inside of me. I was greatly disturbed. I sat up in bed and, even through the darkness of the night, I saw a presence of even deeper darkness in the corner of the room.

Fear gripped me. This darkness, this presence, this sense of absolute despair suddenly tried to get on the inside of me. I could feel my heart racing, not sure what to do.

 “Lord, what is this?” I asked Him. “What is this that I’m feeling? What is this presence? What’s going on here?”

 The Lord spoke to me, and He said, “It’s just a demon.”

“Oh,” I repeated the Lord’s words to me out loud, “It’s just a demon.”

At those simple words, that change in perspective, all the heaviness left. The dark, scary demon was just a conquered foe, deprived of its power to harm me. I rolled over and went to sleep.

Overplaying Its Hand

 Fear will always overplay its hand. The enemy will always try to appear bigger, more scary, and more intimidating than the beat-down loser he really is. I guess there’s not a lot of subtlety in a demon.

Sometimes fear comes on suddenly as a demonic manifestation. It doesn’t connect to your train of thought or relate to past experiences and phobias. It just floods your mind all at once, out of nowhere. You may feel something physical like goosebumps or a spike in your heart rate.

That’s just satan being dramatic.

 But the peace of God lives inside of us. We carry God’s power in us. His Word is alive in us. We have nothing to fear from silly, overdramatic demons and their showy displays.

The Word of God is the cure for any demonic manifestation of fear. That night, the Holy Spirit showed me this was “just a demon.” As soon as I measured that dark presence up against Jesus, it lost all its power. Just a few words from Psalm 91, just a shift in perspective in my heart, and both the baby and I were sleeping peacefully, free from fear.

Interrupt the Interruption

 The next day, my team and I led an incredible conference with pastors from all over Russia. It was a powerful time of ministry, but we didn’t have enough translators.

Miraculously, the Holy Spirit filled me with the ability to understand Russian. I couldn’t speak Russian, but I could understand it for those hours while I needed that ability to hear and understand the language. As people came up for prayer, I understood every word they said and knew how to pray for their needs. I’d never heard of the gift of interpretation of a known language. It blew my mind! I didn’t know that could happen!

Later, when our team who had spent the night split up in separate houses finally had a chance to gather, we realized many of us had experience demonic manifestations the night before. For some it was fear or anxiety, others had random sickness or saw physical manifestations.

Clearly, the enemy wanted to interrupt the move of God that was underway with our event. We even learned that the area was steeped in witchcraft, and the local witches had gathered that night specifically because “the Christians” were in town.

 Knowing what we have inside of us, knowing every curse has been broken, knowing Jesus has overcome the world allowed each member of the team to shut out fear in any form. We don’t have to be afraid of any of the evil in this world. We have a refuge in our mighty God (Psalm 91:4)!