How to Handle Your Emotions (Counseling Through the Bible Series) (31 page)

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the L
ORD
forever.”

Certain situations are more fearful than others. Sometimes it is enough to read the psalm once to settle your fears. At other times you may need to move to a quiet place without distractions so you can exchange panic for peace by thoroughly focusing on the psalm and its promises.

Verse 1:
“The L
ORD
is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”

Imagine a grassy, pastoral scene and the Lord there with you. Slowly say “The Lord is my Shepherd” five times, each time emphasizing a different word:

THE Lord is my Shepherd.

The LORD is my Shepherd.

The Lord IS my Shepherd.

The Lord is MY Shepherd.

The Lord is my SHEPHERD.

Verse 2:
“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.”

Imagine yourself lying down beside a calm pool of water.

Verse 3:
“He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Take several deep breaths and say, “My Shepherd restores my soul” five times. Say it slowly, each time emphasizing a different word:

MY Shepherd restores my soul.

My SHEPHERD restores my soul.

My Shepherd RESTORES my soul.

My Shepherd restores MY soul.

My Shepherd restores my SOUL.

Verse 4:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Realize that you are not trapped. Say, “I will fear no evil; the Lord is with me” five times, repeating it slowly.

Verse 5:
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

Repeat the following statement five times, each time emphasizing a different word:

THE Lord is my Protector.

The LORD is my Protector.

The Lord IS my Protector.

The Lord is MY Protector.

The Lord is my PROTECTOR.

Verse 6:
“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the L
ORD
forever.”

Thank the Lord for the way He will use each fearful situation for
good
in your life.

Dear God,

I thank You that You are my Shepherd. You guide me, You protect me, and You give me Your peace.

You are the One who restores my soul.

You know my weaknesses and the times I’ve caved in to fear.

Now, in my weakness,

I will choose to rely on Your strength. You are my Shepherd.

I am choosing to rely on

Your power to move me from fear to faith.

As I turn my fear over to You, use it for good in my life to remind me of my continual need for You.

In Your holy name I pray. Amen.

Focus on your fear, and your panic will increase. Focus on your Shepherd, and your heart will be at peace.

—J
UNE
H
UNT

Now there is no knocking of knees, no trembling of hands. Gideon not only leads the charge against the Midianites: In the Lord’s strength, he and his 300 men boldly stand up to criticism and relentlessly pursue what remains of the enemy. Along the way, despite physical exhaustion. When Gideon asks the men in the town of Succoth for sustenance so he can continue his quest, they scoff at his potential for success and refuse him.

Sometimes after a great success, we often revert back to an old habit— an attitude filled with fear and doubt—simply because someone treats us as we were treated in the past.

When the men of Succoth scoffed at Gideon, he could have collapsed emotionally—even though he had just experienced a miraculous victory. That is why it’s helpful for us to pause and evaluate our situation each time a new situation has the potential to fill our hearts with old fears.

Examining your fear, its origin, its legitimacy, and its pattern can help you understand it and develop a strategy to resolve it. First, go before God, who is the Source of wisdom, and pray this prayer from your heart:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”

(P
SALM
139:23-24).

Of what are you truly afraid?

—Is my fear tied to recent events, or did it originate from some specific situation in the past?

—Is my fear based on a real threat or merely a perceived one?

—Is my fear wrongly associated with an event or object that should not be feared?

—Is my fear coming from certain places, people, or things that remind me of possible fearful consequences?

—Is my fear due to a persistent fear-based mentality even though the circumstance, relationship, or lifestyle in which it was rooted no longer exists?

—Is my fear a result of continuously faking fear over such a long period of time that it has now become real to me? Have I come to believe my own lie?

“The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception”

(P
ROVERBS
14:8).

Gideon makes the same request for supplies at a second town, Peniel, and once again is refused. Resuming their pursuit, Gideon and his men rout the entire remaining army of 15,000 and capture their cruel kings. Gideon continues living out his personal transformation from fear to faith as he completes the task God has called him to accomplish. And he does it in the face of criticism and opposition not only from his enemies, but from his own countrymen! And he does it because he knows his God is trustworthy.

God desires to fill you with the same assurance as you complete the following steps to overcoming your fears.

Knowing the truth and then acting on it is critical to conquering fear. The source of truth is the One who does not lie—our God who
cannot
lie.

The first step in applying truth is to identify the false assumptions behind the fears you are experiencing and to replace them with the truth.

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”

(J
OHN
8:32).

I
S THAT WHICH
I
AM AFRAID OF ACTUALLY LIKELY TO HAPPEN?

—Realize that fixating on your fear most often guarantees its repetition.

—Understand that most fears have nothing to do with what’s happening now.

I
S MY FEAR ROOTED IN THE PAST, OR IS IT CURRENT?

—What past trauma(s) first instilled my fear?

—What past fear am I bringing into the present?

—When did I first experience this fear?

—How old am I emotionally when I am feeling this fear?

—Where am I when I am feeling this fear?

—What is going on when I am feeling this fear?

—How is this fear affecting my life now? What is it costing me?

A
M
I
DETERMINED TO GET OUT OF THE GRIP OF FEAR?

—Do what it takes to control your fear and to change from being fearful. Tell yourself, “I will not let this fear run my life. I will not let past fears control me.”

—Decide to live in the here and now and act in a way that is not based on fear. Repeat this phrase over and over: “That was then, and this is now. That was then, and this is now.”

—Share with a trustworthy person your fear and your plan for change.

As you choose to face your fear with faith, claim this Scripture as your own:

“I sought the L
ORD
, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears”

(P
SALM
34:4).

Gideon moves from the testing of God to triumph with God, from a fear-based fleece to a faith-based foundation. Previously, Gideon kept asking God for supernatural signs that affirmed God would do what He clearly and repeatedly said He would do.
³⁰
Ultimately, Gideon moves from weakness to strength, from doubt to faith, from vacillating to victorious— and he does so by trusting in the one true God and taking action based on that trust. It is God who gives Gideon victories in defeating both his foes and his fears.

Gideon’s successes in saving his people from perishing, conquering enemy kings, and gaining victory over vast armies cause the people of Israel to ask him to rule over them. However, Gideon tells them,

“I will not rule over you…The L
ORD
will rule over you”

(J
UDGES
8:23).

God’s call on Gideon’s life is clear: He is to go forth in the Lord’s strength and
“
save Israel out of Midian’s hand.”
³¹
But that call does not include ruling over Israel. Gideon knows this, and he also knows that God is not to be replaced by the man He made into a mighty warrior and empowered to accomplish His purposes. Gideon is still just a man, and God is still the almighty Ruler of the universe.

As you seek to follow Gideon’s example in moving from fear to faith…