What is your first reaction when you’re afraid?
The experts tell us that we have 3 automated responses when we’re afraid. Fright, Flight or Freeze.
So when you feel threatened, you might react quickly by striking back, or fighting out of fear.
Or, you may run away & hide out of fear.
Or, fear could cause you to freeze up in the moment.
Each of these 3 reaction possibilities are decided in fractions of a second as your brain takes all the available information & makes a decision for you to protect you & give you the best chance of survival.
So a few weeks ago me & my son were watching a movie together on the couch. It got to one of those more suspenseful parts of the movie. You know… the music gets a little lower, more serious. The lighting gets darker. You’re physically & mentally leaning in because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. And right as this scene was reaching it’s highest point of tension, right before the apex, I jumped & screamed! Will jumped too, then quickly realizing what happened he punched me in the stomach! Ouch! So his auto response is FIGHT! I’m not sure what that says about me or about him!
Sometimes when we get scared, FIGHT is our first response too. It’s self defense!
Our Weapons of Choice
The older we get, the smarter we get. Now when we get afraid & that same impulse to FIGHT comes out, we’re smart enough to channel it in a different direction. Instead of throwing fists, we throw hurtful words. Instead of hurting people physically, we harm people emotionally. Instead of using weapons of force to cause damage & bloody our opponents we wield weapons that cause a different kind of damage, these weapons wound deeper & are more painful & honestly, are harder to heal.
Another Way to Engage the Fight
Gideon was asked by God to do what seemed like mission impossible. Defeat the Midianite army, the current enemy & oppressor of the people of God for seven years running. Gideon was afraid, & perhaps rightfully so. But after putting God to the test three times, Gideon decides to put his faith & trust in the God of angel armies. He goes to battle, but listen to the weapons he & his army go to battle with…
Gideon said…
“Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!” 16 He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.
17 Then he said to them, “Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. 18 As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars. 20 Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
21 Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. 22 When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled… (Judges 7.15-22)
So let me ask you one question…
Where were their weapons?
God did it when he defeated the Egyptian army. Israel won the battle without lifting a single sword. God parted the waters at the Red Sea & after the Israelites crossed over on dry ground, God allowed the waters to crash down on the Egyptian army who was in pursuit.
God also did it at Jericho. Joshua led the people of God right up to the fortified city. Without lifting a sword they won the initial attack. After marching around the walls of the city for seven days, those walls fell down & Israel won the initial battle without even raising a weapon.
And here, God does it again. With only 300 men armed with torches, trumpets & clay pots Israel wins the battle without lifting a single sword! God gives Gideon the victory. There’s no other way to explain it!
It’s so hard for us to imagine. We’re so indoctrinated by our culture to come out fighting when we feel threatened, the idea of laying down our weapons & asking God to fight for us sounds foreign even to us Christians!
But you’re wondering why your not winning at home? Why you’re not winning with your friends? Why you’re not winning with your coworkers? With your relationships? It’s because you won’t let go. You won’t lay your weapons down.
Maybe your weapons aren’t swords & arrows. Maybe your weapon of choice is power. Control. Words. Social Media. Maybe you like to organize & galvanize people around your ideas & against other people & their ideas.
Maybe it’s time to lay your weapons down.
[Tweet “Lay your weapons down. #Choose2Believe”]And if you are truly under attack, maybe it’s time to let go of your weapons & let God fight for you.
Do you trust God to fight for you, whatever the battle?
Let me ask you this, what was your most recent conflict? What was your weapon of choice in that conflict? How did you try to hurt the other person?
Now let me ask you this… Can you lay that weapon down? Can you turn the battle over to God?
[Tweet “Yahweh fights for you. Trust Him. #Choose2Believe”]I want us to hear this because some of us are afraid today. And because we’re afraid we’re looking to pick up whatever weapons we can to fight back. We use our words to hurt others.
Do Not Be Afraid
The good news for you & for me is that we don’t have to fight because we don’t have to be afraid.
Those around you are fighting because they are afraid.
You don’t have to fight because…
There is ONE who fights for you.
Because of His presence you don’t have to be AFRAID.
[Tweet “God will make a way out of no way. #Choose2Believe”]So don’t be afraid today. Don’t be afraid to lay your weapons down. Engage the fight in front of you with God, with faith. The God of angel armies will fight for you too. You can put your hope & trust in Him. He is faithful to save. Just ask Gideon.
