Fear & Doubt – The Ugly Twins

In a vision by the Spirit, I was floating down a river.  Ahead I could see that I was approaching a waterfall.  I attempted to get to shore but the current was too strong and swift.  

In my heart I knew I was being called to decide whether I would surrender willingly and go over the waterfall.  I then was given a front-view of the waterfall.  Just below the crest where the water began to pour over, I saw two identical demons on either side of the cascading water holding a net between them.  I was then given their names:  Fear & Doubt.

It was clear that fear and doubt would be a hinderance to me, attempting to keep me from moving on with the Lord.  Either I was to surrender to the flow of the water, the Holy Spirit, by making a leap of faith or I would be caught in the net held by fear and doubt and be thrown back up and over the crest.  The Holy Spirit was calling me to make a decision to follow Him.  When I did, I fell into a peaceful pool of water and saw Jesus on the shore.  I swam to the shore where Jesus was, and we then walked on from there to continue our journey together.

Paul exhorted Timothy that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and sound judgment (II Tim 1:7).  We are being called upon to war with fear and doubt, for by these ugly twins the enemy of our souls uses them to wage war against us and the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).  Fear is nothing but a smokescreen that the enemy of our souls uses to keep us from moving forward in the strength of the Lord to take territory.  For the Kingdom of God to advance through us there must be battles; we must face fear and doubt and conquer in the name of the Lord.  What was true for Joshua and the Israelites, is certainly true for us.

To say that fear is a smokescreen from the enemy is not to say we can’t feel fear.  The darkness of menacing fear is very real, but in our weakness of sensing overwhelming fear, we can call upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, to lead us forward into battle and put fear under our feet.  We must do our part by raising up the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and commanding fear to move out of the way!  We dare not surrender to fear when we are called to have faith in the Lord and to move in His authority and having done all, to stand (Eph 6:13).

Fear and doubt are designed to hinder our walk with the Lord.  We as the Church are called to surrender to the path ahead that the Holy Spirit is calling us to.  Without taking the leap of faith that He is instructing us to take, knowing and trusting in His goodness, we won’t be able to continue our journey with Him.  The Lord is calling us to follow Him into battle where fear and doubt must be reckoned with an understanding as to how they war against the will of the Lord for us and for those He has called us to minister to.  Let us fight the good fight of faith!

Mark Biteler