Dear Sisters, we are living in a time where God needs us to stand strong in our ways, our beliefs and our convictions.  He is looking for the Abrams and Sarais who are willing to leave their mother and father and journey to a land they don’t know.  He is looking for the Esther’s who will rise up and lay their life on the line for others.  He is looking for the Deborah’s who will stand and lead their armies—speaking faith and encouragement into the lives of those around them.  We, too, in our sphere of influence can stand strong and change our world.  What hinders us?  Why do we sometimes fall short of what our faithful hearts tell us we can achieve, and yield to a spirit of fear?
 
One of the major forces at work to keep us living in a smaller arena than we need to be is our history.
 
Our history is comprised of many experiences. We are affected by so many different things.  Our conscience mind records facts.  Our sub-conscious mind records feelings and perceptions that may be true or not.  This accumulation of data affects our soul.  Grandma can tell a story of how she “almost” went to college, but was too afraid.  Uncle Ed can mention how difficult it was for him to buy a house and somehow these stories become part of a barrier that we must overcome if we are going to go to college or buy a house. Unfortunately our soul now tells us that for us, it will be too hard to go to college or buy a house, unless we realize that this interpretation of Grandma and Uncle Ed’s experiences which may have been true for them was in fact for us a lie.
 
All parents need to set boundaries for their children, letting them know the “safe places” and warning them about danger areas. Each of us was told as toddlers “do not touch the stove, because you will get burned”, “do not cross the street, because you could get hit by a car” etc.  This was for our own protection.  However, as we grow up, we learn that the instruction we received from our parents concerning the stove and the streets were only partial truths.  It is true that if you touch a hot burner you will get burned, but as we grew up we learned that there is a safe way to use a stove and that as we learn to use that stove it will be a blessing not only to ourselves, but to others.  We learn that it is true that if we cross the street we could get hit by a car, but we learn that there are safe ways to cross the street and as we do so, our world expands. In other words, we learn to respect the stove and the road, and for us to learn to respect the stove and the road we had to introduce change into our thought processes.  We had to trust that what we had been told about the stove and the road needed to be altered to accept this new information, that stoves and roads were good and helpful, not scary or intimidating.
 
Unfortunately, for many people they do not grow up in all areas of these types of “rules”.  They are bound by limitations put on them as children.  Perhaps they have learned to use the stove and cross the street, but there abides within them a fear that there may be other dangers which lurk about and could injure them.  This influences their decisions to take “risks” (the possibility of loss or injury).
   
How do we discover these lurking fears?   Most of us discover them through our responses to new opportunities.  When we are invited to step into new areas either physically (learn a new sport) mentally (teach a class) or spiritually (step out  to use a spiritual gift)  etc.  In order to embrace the new, we always evaluate the risk factor.  Is this worth the potential loss or injury to myself or my possessions?  Should I “risk” the embarrassment of potential failure?  What would it cost me—in time, energy or money?  These are prudent steps. Unfortunately, if we stop with just these steps we may make serious mistakes. For God desires to enlarge our world continually, and unless we integrate the Holy Spirit’s direction in our responses we may miss opening the door to our future because of the historical fears governing our lives.
 
Our soul, which is comprised of our intellect, our emotions and our will, comes into play every time we face real or perceived fearful situations.
Let’s examine how this works:
 
Jamie is a Christian.  She loves the Lord and has sought to be used by Him.  She has a passion to help young single moms.  While in high school she received a C- in speech class.  This was her lowest grade in high school.  This C- was a constant reminder of she could not speak in front of people.  She has avoided any opportunity to do so.  Her local church is holding a fund raiser for the local Pregnancy Care Clinic and they have asked her to share her experiences as a counselor and support person.  Her mind instantly replays the scene where she worked so hard to speak in front of her class in high school, and how at the critical moment she had started to stutter, dropped her papers and amid the laughter of her classmates, had sat down in tears.  Her emotions reminded her how fearful, afraid and how uncomfortable it was, so she found herself saying,  “No, I am sorry, but I can’t do that, I only work one on one.”  Later on that evening as Jamie was preparing for bed she felt the Holy Spirit speaking to her, “Jamie, you should share your heart with the people”.  Jamie was now in a quandary.  Her old thoughts were imprisoning her, while the Holy Spirit was urging her to step out in new ways.  What should she do?  Allow the comfort of being a “behind the scenes” person continue—or trust that God could use her in other arenas?
 
Jamie’s history has told her that it is unsafe to speak in front of people.

The Holy Spirit is telling her that she should speak. Learning to deal with historical “facts” is imperative if we want to break free from fear.
 
Here are some steps to help us break free from fears generated by our history.
 

1. Decide who or what will be your truth. If the Lord is Lord go to Him.
2. Identify and confess any arena of fearfulness
3. Change your mind by replacing the lies (historical ‘facts’, or partial truths) with God’s Truth found in His Word for your situation
4. Walk in faith in the situation, choosing to Believe God’s Word, Character and Will rather than your past history—choosing to bring subject any feelings of anxiety, fearfulness, or dread
5. Ask other over comers to help you.

These steps are essential if we are to break free from any fears that bind us because of our history.  We are not bound by our history.  We are free to walk in the truth which sets us free.  We must choose to judge our thoughts, our feelings and our decisions in the light of God’s Word.  Sarai, Deborah and Esther all had issues to overcome due to their histories, but they chose to obey the Lord.  That is our choice today as well.  He understands what it will cost us to “buy the truth and sell it not” (Proverbs 23:23).  It will always be worth
 
Written by: Martha Rodman