Brooke

Espinoza

Contributing Writer

Brooke Espinoza is a graduate of Calvary Chapel Bible College. She writes for the Christian woman who desires to spend more time in God's Word, but is pressed for time. Brooke encourages Christian women to embrace scripture with all their mind while empowering them to maximize their time in the Word. She lives in Northern California with her husband, Robert, and their daughter, Elizabeth.

More from Brooke Espinoza

Victory over Fear

Black Bart, who robbed 29 Wells Fargo stagecoaches between 1875 and 1883, managed to strike fear in the hearts of his victims. Bart used his evil demeanor to ignite fear in anyone unfortunate to be on or around a Wells Fargo stagecoach during a robbery. Bart used fear to get his victims eyes on their circumstances. He knew distracting his victims from what was true was his only hope for a successful robbery and get away. The truth about Black Bart was in the 29 robberies history documents; he never once fired his gun or took a hostage. I wonder if the victims of his later robberies would have been as afraid, when robbed, if they had just set their mind on that truth. Like Black Bart, Satan uses fear as a tool to distract us from what is true.

Satan's understanding of who we are in Christ is evidenced by his repeated attempts to get us to submit to fear. When we are fully aware of the truth of who we are in Christ, we will not be afraid. The only thing Satan can do is to distract us from this truth. He does this by attempting to re-direct our focus, from our riches in Christ, onto our seemingly fearful circumstances. Satan knows he can't rob us of our riches in Christ, so he has no choice but to encourage us to lose sight of all we have and all we are in Christ.

Though we may lose sight of this, at times, God continues to prove Himself faithful in our lives. Remember when the Armenian army surrounded the Israelites camp? (2 Kings 6:15-17 When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. "Oh, sir, what will we do now?" the young man cried to Elisha. "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" Then Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!" The LORD opened the young man's eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ) A fear-struck servant came to Elisha with the disheartening news. However, Elisha assured the servant.

So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16 "Don't be afraid!" Elisha told him. "For there are more on our side than on theirs!" OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) NKJV)

Elisha prayed and instantly the servant's eyes were opened to see the hills, all around, covered with horses and chariots of fire. The truth was that God had provided the Israelites more than enough protection from the Armenians. Elisha's eyes were on what was true while the servant's gaze had been distracted by the surrounding enemy. I wonder if the servant would have seen God's army from the start had he not allowed the enemy to distract him from what was true.

Though, in Christ, I am more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ), on occasion, I allow intimidating circumstances distract me from this truth, and I submit to fear. Just as the turbulent waves of the sea distracted Peter from Jesus' invitation to walk on water, causing Peter to be consumed by the waves, when I focus on the waves in my life, overwhelming feelings of helplessness rob me of doing the impossible through Christ. Like Peter, when I fix my eyes on Jesus I am able to confidently rise above my fears and miraculously walk to Jesus, by faith, on what previously were my fears.

All throughout the Bible, God instructs people to not fear. Though we may feel sometimes this is easier said than done, it is no coincidence that when you add up all the instances in Scripture where it instructs, "do not fear," "fear not," and "be not afraid" they total 365 occurrences — one occurrence for every day of the year. Perhaps this is God's way of telling us we will never face a day that we will have a valid reason to be afraid. May our faith in Jesus shine so bright, extinguishing all ungodly fears, that those who don't know Jesus will marvel at our boldness and know, as the Sanhedrin did after witnessing the boldness of Peter and John, that we have been with Jesus. (Acts 4:5-13 The next day the council of all the rulers and elders and teachers of religious law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, along with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They brought in the two disciples and demanded, "By what power, or in whose name, have you done this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of our people, are we being questioned today because we've done a good deed for a crippled man? Do you want to know how he was healed? Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,* the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead. For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says,`The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.'* There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) )