No matter how you personally feel about Halloween, this is the time in October when it’s hard to make your Target run or grab your groceries without seeing gruesome masks, scary inflatables, or grotesque zombie costumes.

Ugh. Enough with all the scary stuff. Don’t we have enough fear in our lives?

Of course, I don’t mean horror movies or goblin masks (any amount is too much of that in my opinion!). I mean the fear we face on the inside. The fear that we’re not good enough. . .

That we’re not worthy . . .

Or, that our dreams are never going to come true. 

We fear what others think of us, what others say about us, and how we’ll feel about ourselves if we can’t meet our own arbitrary standards of success. (Shout out to all who miss a morning workout and then carry the guilt of that skipped session with them All. Day. Long.)

This type of fear is much more subtle than a trick-or-treat costume.

If it rang our doorbells holding a sickle, demanding candy, we’d slam the door and shout, “Fear, get out of here!”

But, fear doesn’t show up in an obvious way, it whispers in our ears. Disguised as the truth, the kind of fear that truly defeats us can’t be seen. It can only be heard only in our minds.

This kind of fear takes two ounces of truth and adds 30 ounces of lie and serves you a 32 ounce cup of “I’m never going to make it.”

“You’ll never get out of this pit. . .”

I’ve heard those lies. Maybe you have too. I thought I’d never find freedom from my body image issues. I thought I’d never feel good enough. . .

Because the lie contains those two tiny ounces of truth, we decide to believe it. We feel compelled to accept it.

After all, it’s a little true. Isn’t it plausible it could be ALL true?

Like a ball of slime, the lie then morphs and molds to our every movement, sticking to all it touches. It causes us to doubt everything from our value to our parenting skills, our competency, to our salvation.

But here’s what I want to encourage you with today . . .

You don’t have to accept fear’s 32 ounce lie.

In fact, don’t even extract the 2 ounces of truth from the lie — reject the whole thing!

Why? Because the lies are from the enemy.

The deceiver of your soul. The thief of joy. Even if there are things, true things, you need to work on, don’t take your cues from him. Period. Talk to the Jesus instead and ask the Holy Spirit to show you if there are areas you need to work on.

There’s one more thing about fear we should talk about. Fear tricks us into thinking it’s a whole lot more powerful than it actually is.

Like a child putting on an inflatable dinosaur costume, fear wants us to think it’s a T-Rex ready to eat us alive. But, friend, I hope you’ll see that under that fabric is really just a bunch of air.

When you hear the lies this week, practice shutting them out. Instead of weighing out the true parts and letting those lies spin in your head, picture the lies like a scary monster at your door, ready to steal your life. Slam it, lock it, and run from them back to the arms of the only source of truth, Jesus.

• Truth is: I’m not good enough on my own. But, Jesus, died to save me and give me incomparable value.
• Truth is: Everyone feels uncertain at times, but when I let the Holy Spirit lead and guide my decisions, I can walk in a confidence that transcends my human abilities.
• Truth is: God told us to “Fear Not” over and again through the Bible because fear is the opposite of faith. It cripples, destroys, and hinders our ability to be effective messengers of the love of Jesus.

Fear, he is a liar. Unmask him.

My prayer for you:

Dear Heavenly Father, please help us to be unafraid. Help us to not fear what others think or what they say. Help us to clearly distinguish the truth from the lies and to tune into your voice as we shut out the voice of the ultimate liar. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

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