House of Glory: Do you have Phobias?

"I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears." (Ps. 34:4)

The definition of a phobia is "an irrational fear."

Some phobias are now accepted as "normal." Such as fear of germs. The chemical manufacturers certainly have instilled into most of the advertising viewers that germs are an enemy and chemicals must be used to kill them. So people spray and wash and pour chemicals all over their homes making it a real challenge for the body to detoxify. The liver is bombarded in this toxic world we live in. Our body was designed to deal with germs. Germs were part of Creation. Chemicals are man-made and we are rapidly seeing what they are doing to Creation and the resources that God gave us to survive.

Then there are those who fear chemicals. I went through many years of my life with Environmental Illness or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity as they call it now....reacting to almost every chemical known. The word "chemical" would bring on a reaction. A reaction that I now know has fear at the root of it. NOT that there isn't a definite physiological response, but having been delivered from MCS after 20 years of misery, I now see the darkness involved in it. Pastor Henry Wright's book deals specifically with lots of information on MCS since it was the most successful area of victory he has had in the area of health problems with a spiritual/ emotional root.

The news media has certainly convinced us that strangers are a possible danger, so we should not approach any body we don't know....even if they need help. And the list of fears goes on and on.......

The Bible tells us that we should "FEAR NOT." If you look for those words in the Bible (KJV), they appear 144 times. If you've been reading "A More Excellent Way" you've been made aware at how much fear is at the root of many health issues. The book is a definite way to shed light on dark issues.

Phobias are a real challenge since we tend to not want anybody to know about them, so it's as much of a challenge "handling" our phobias to keep them private, as it is living with them.

I was thinking about how to discover what fear is at the bottom of a particular phobia. My Mom was fearful of a long list of things....which never bothered me. Heights, water, storms, flying, even car travel wasn't comfortable for her. I guess somewhere as a teen I decided that I wasn't going to have those problems.

And I didn't. However, the devil always does a twistie from one generation to the next so it's not so obvious to those seeking relief from a generational curse, which may sometimes called a hereditary issue.

I've still got fragments of various "habits" I've identified as phobias and I am continually seeking answers to them. I was doing a devotion a few weeks ago and a Scripture caught my eye since this topic was on my mind.

Ps. 34:4 "I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears." Well, surely David had fears he didn't even know about. I realized that I could chew up and digest and get the nutrition from this Scripture for phobias. So, I've been thinking about it and internalizing it. Not as a routine, but as I have a phobia problem or think about phobias.

We could spend lots of time and energy and health (mental and physical) trying to deal with each small issue in our lives that relate to fear.....or we could use the power and energy of the WORD to do it for us.

As I meditate on that Scripture, I'm realizing that things are changing. I'm doing things that I don't normally do because had phobias limited me. So.....I realize that the Word is really going down deep and beginning to DELIVER me. I'm so excited. I don't "feel" like the Scripture has changed me, but I see the evidence. Meditating on Scripture is apparently very powerful.

I also saw something else after I'd decided to internalize the above Scripture that I thought I was supposed to include: Ps. 25:15 "My eyes are ever on the Lord for only He will release my feet from the snare."