ROOTED RENEGADE

Nehemiah 4:7-8 and 6:1-8

When insults, mockery, ridicule and discouragment don’t work, giants will try other means to stop you from doing the work. Whether they use assualts of confusion or manipulation, their attacks may seem daunting and intimidating. And this is usually where the ‘fear of man’ comes in at.

Being more afraid of what someone might do to you or say to you because you choose to stand your ground. Or what you may lose if you don’t back down. 

Fear of man can be crippling and giants know it. Which is partly why it is such an effective tactic against believers. If the enemy can get you to be afraid and start rehearsing the “what if’s” then he knows the trap has worked and all he has to do is sit back and watch you fold.

There are tell tell signs that you have the fear of man:

1. You rehearse what you are going to say to someone multiple times until you have thought about all the ways it can go (this is ruminating).
2. You will back down when you need to stand up because you don’t know the outcome of a situation.
3. You will avoid having much needed conversations with someone because you are too afraid of what they might say in return.
4. The person reminds you of someone in your past and you have not healed from it, so whatever they say, you jump to do to avoid conflict of any kind.
5. You will run yourself in the ground to make them and keep them happy as long as you don’t have to deal with any backlash.

So, how do we overcome the ‘fear of man’ and take this giant down once and for all? We have to confront it head on and ask Holy Spirit for an increase of the Fear of the Lord. 

The Fear of the Lord is reverence, not fear as the enemy may try to manipulate it. It is recognizing that God is over all things, holy, mighty, just, and righteous. That He is Lord, King, and Creator.

Solomon reminded us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” in Proverbs 9:10.

If the enemy can keep us being afraid of people, we won’t walk in the fullness that the fear of the Lord brings. There is beauty in the Lord that we can absolutely tap into. He is colorful, vibrant, radiant, full of light and life, and we absolutely can enjoy His splendor each day. We just need to stop and take a pause break whenever someone is causing us to fear. Look at Jesus and ask for His help in overcoming. For His help in seeing the situation or circumstance correctly. For His wisdom and understanding as well. 

It is not easy to come out of the ‘fear of man’. This giant is intimidating and such a bully. But taking one step at a time one day at a time is progress towards breaking this giants neck!

So my friends, step out in boldness today and stand up against this giant. You may have to do it many times before it flees, but every step you take is a step towards freedom! And we all want to be free!

Faythe