Fear of Men

Paul warned us about the trap of seeking man’s approval over our lives. Galatians 1:10 says, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Fear of man can be quite debilitating in the sense that we are actually operating in a spirit of fear. And whatever we fear is what controls us. In essence, it is
impossible to please man AND God. So, which one are we going to live for? This is quite personal to me,
as I have dealt with the spirit of fear, or fear of man, in the past and still continue to overcome that as I
grow deeper in the Kingdom of God.

When I was first baptized in the Holy Spirit I encountered some
prominent people in my life that I esteemed as men and women of God who opposed this truth of the
filling of the Spirit. When I gave my testimony to one of them, we agreed to disagree on the matter and I
was told not to teach it at the church. The following week, I am on my way to Bible study and happened
to run into that same person who proceeded to intimidate me into silence. And it worked. I didn’t utter
one word in Bible study that week because I was wracked with fear: fear of man. Fear of being rejected,
fear of being embarrassed, fear of losing all of the relationships I had gained in my church community.
That night I went home and wept. I felt like I had let God down. Why was I so fearful? God was not
finished with me yet, nor was he disappointed. He was just beginning His work in me and by His grace,
we will overcome!

I had two dreams that night that shook me to my core. The first one I was in the spirit
and found myself in the middle of the ocean, floating above the waves in complete darkness. The only
light I saw was the stars. I saw the waves crashing and churning very powerfully and I was in awe, or
shall I say I was fearful. It was scary. The following day God took me to Isaiah 51:12-15, “I am he who
comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like
grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations
of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets
himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor? He who is bowed down shall speedily be
released; he shall not die and go down to the pit, neither shall his bread be lacking. I am the Lord your
God, who stirs up the sea so it’s waves roar- the Lord of hosts is his name.” It’s as if God was saying, “Sarah, I will show you who you really should be in awe of and fear, and how little man can do to you.
I’m the one who stirs up the sea, trust in me.” Whom shall I fear? The second dream was quite different.
I heard my daughter screaming in her room while she was in bed sleeping, so I ran into her room. When
I got to the side of her bed, she stopped screaming. I looked up to the ceiling and there was a dove
coming down about to land on my head! I remember all of the details of the dove, its beak, wings and
feet. As it fell on my head, it disappeared. As soon as that happened, a demon jumped on my head (a
picture of authority). He was small, almost impish and had twisted horns on top of its head. When it
jumped on me, I ran to a sliding glass door and threw it off of my head with a giant heave and it ran
away from me as fast as it could in the other direction, into darkness. Then I woke up.

The devil wants us to live in fear, because then he can control us. But Papa God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of POWER and LOVE and SELF CONTROL (2 Timothy 1:7). As long we don’t come into agreement with the enemy regarding lies he attempts to get us to believe, he loses all his power over us. The truth is, if God is for us, who can truly be against us? This I know, that God is for me. And he’s for you. What can man do to me? (Psalms 56:9-11). As we see the Father in all his glory, power, and awesomeness, the world loses its hold on us. We must continually remind ourselves that no matter what man says about us or does to us, we are completely accepted and loved by the Father who will never reject us. The one who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth has his eye on us, and is guiding and directing our steps.

This is my prayer: Lord, may I always keep the perspective of who you are and who I am. May I always walk in boldness knowing that no matter what man does to me, you will never reject me or forsake me. Expel this fear of man from me so that I may be a vessel wholly devoted to your kingdom. Fill me with your boldness and love that I may walk as Jesus walked. In Jesus name! God Bless!