What you think about is more important you may realize.

On the surface, we all know this. But it’s what’s lurking below the surface that’s the most dangerous. It’s those thoughts we don’t even realize we’re thinking. The things we don’t know we’re telling ourselves. The initial fears and doubts that run through our minds so fast that we’ve emotionally and physically reacted before we even realized what was happening.

The more I consider the power of fear in my life and in the lives of those I’ve worked with over the years, the more convinced I am that fear is the single most underestimated tool in the Enemy’s arsenal. I believe that’s why, in Revelation 21:8, the first quality noted of those thrown into the Lake of Fire are the fearful (http://biblehub.com/greek/1169.htm).  
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But there’s one another tool that has been huge in my life — it’s so simple, but so challenging. It’s something I recommend for homework with many of my counselees and students. However, because it’s so simple, and also so challenging, not many follow through long enough to see the benefit. And to be totally honest with you, there are many times when I myself didn’t see the benefit. Times when I stopped for a while. In fact, there was a period of over a year where I failed to do this. And I noticed the effect most profoundly when I found my notebook from 2014 just a few months ago.

​I don’t remember a lot of the details, but I do remember that 2014 had a lot of ups and downs, as tends to happen in life. But as I flipped through this notebook, all I saw were the highlights; and all I remembered was the closeness I had with the Lord during that time; the answers to prayer I was receiving; the joy and the peace I felt. It was my gratitude notebook. 

2017 was a hard year for me; my hardest yet.

I have had to rely on everything I’ve learned and been taught in my life; things that I have known since I was a child, yet, up until this year, had little opportunity to put in to practice.

Were it not for the grace of God, I would not be writing this.

I would not be at peace.

I would not have joy.

I would not be okay.

But God is gracious.

He gives us so many great gifts to help us in our times of need and struggle in life.

God is our refuge and strength, 
A very present help in trouble. 
Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 
Though its waters roar and be troubled, 
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. 
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. 
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn. 
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved; 
He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 
The LORD of hosts is with us; 
The God of Jacob is our refuge. 
Come, behold the works of the LORD, 
Who has made desolations in the earth. 
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; 
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; 
He burns the chariot in the fire. 
Be still, and know that I am God; 
I will be exalted among the nations, 
I will be exalted in the earth! 
The LORD of hosts is with us; 
The God of Jacob is our refuge. 
-‭‭Psalm 46:1-11‬

I love this Psalm. Did you know that the Lord of Hosts is Jesus? 

The same One who spoke with Abraham as a friend. 

The same One who was with the three Hebrew children in the fire. 

The same One who wrestled Jacob, who finally conquered him. 

He is our defender. He does great and mighty things. He destroys armies. He stops people
​in their tracks. He makes all things work together for our good.

Why, then, do we give in to fear? 

Fear, my dad once said, reveals that we are walking by sight. 

And I think, sometimes, we forget that during those times, while waiting for deliverance,
waiting for freedom, waiting for healing, they were doing just that — waiting. They did not know the end of the story. They did not yet see God’s intervention. They didn’t know how he was going to work things out for their good, how he was going to fulfill his promise to them.

So they waited.

Some waited well. They “strengthened themselves in the Lord,” as David did in 1 Samuel 30. They fixed their eyes on the Lord rather than their circumstances, they chose to trust him,
not their emotions, and they were determined to walk by faith, not by sight.

Others waited, well, badly. They focused on their pain. They focused on their circumstances. They took matters into their own hands, afraid that God would fail them. And the results
always proved tragic. The deliverance was delayed, their relationships damaged, and often, their testimonies tarnished.
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Am I the only one? I don’t think I am. I think some of you do it, too. 

We know the word agape and we know it means sacrificial, but we don’t really connect
the dots beyond that. Sure, it costs. But I think I tend to assume that when it’s agape,
I’ll win in the end. And by win, I mean be loved in return. 

I’m discovering that’s not true.

At least, not in the way I tend to want.