Fear is a good thing...

"Have I not commanded you, be strong and brave do not afraid or dismayed for I Yahweh your Elohim will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

Beloved reader, I want to share with you a special treasure that I found. Like unearthed gems that are worth beyond measure. I can't take it and hide it away selfishly, I must share and hold nothing back. What I am about to share is a treasure I have held and cherished so much. It got me through so many hard times and carried me when I couldn't stand. So here is the testimony of The Bible being a living book. I am so thankful for the truth that sets us free!

"In order to be brave you need to be scared." -unknown

Fear is the greatest weapon on earth, some use it to control others and others use it as an obstacle course. Fear is a good thing in the right hands, and fear can destroy anything in the wrong ones. We have all known the touch of fear and felt the capabilities of its power. But how many of us truly know how to use fear rather than being used by it?

I was 7 years old when just one cloud in the sky made me almost go into a panic attack because I was afraid of tornadoes. I was around 17 when I thought I was going to drown at an advanced swimming lesson with experienced trainers in a safe pool. I am 27 and scared to trust people because some have proven to be untrustworthy. I am not a stranger to fear, beloved; instead, I could tell you I am all too well acquainted with it. Even in the moments when I say "I am not scared," is when I am actually the most. Just hiding it rather than showing it because that is weakness, right?

To show fear is weak, yet to hide it is bravery. Is this true? We have to have fear to be brave, just like you have to have darkness because of light or down because of up. Fear is just the opposite of brave, so surprisingly it's not too far from it. It's just a flip of a light switch away!

Fear in the right hand is very productive; it can achieve great and mighty things. A life ruled and submitted to fear won't achieve anything but the products of fear. How do we use it for our benefit rather than it using us? Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you to be strong and brave? Do not be afraid or dismayed, for I, Yahweh your Elohim, will be with you wherever you go." This was a command given to a man who was leading and caring for a whole nation in the middle of a wilderness surrounded by hunger, animals, enemies, and worst of all, civil unrest. So he had a lot to be afraid of, but he had to decide that he would act and do no matter what that voice of fear was saying.

Have you known the power of fear? How it makes you want to react in cowardly ways such as running in fear or acting out of control. Elijah, the great man who brought fire from heaven, ran in fear from an evil queen who wanted him dead. He ran into the wilderness, hid under a tree, and fell into depression. Angels and birds had to come minister to him just to eat. Then he encountered Yahweh and remembered he can face anything, even if he was still a little bit scared.

All this to say fear has no power over you, it is a phantasm eroding actual reality. It is merely a thought that manifests itself as real. So let's use it to become brave and motivate us to greater heights. Fear is a good thing in the right mind, and the end to many in the wrong one.

I will end on this, we were not given the spirit of fear. But of POWER, LOVE, and A SOUND MIND. This is the opposite of fear: power, love, and soundness of mind. All these things vanish when fear rules your mind. So may you have a mindset that is powerful, loved, and sound. May you not be ruled by what fear wants you to think. You have all you need to overcome fear, and this is your time to prove to yourself fear in my hand will be used as a tool, not my identity! Be brave, beloved!!!!

Love

Yours truly Elysa .