Those who are righteous … will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, until he looks with satisfaction upon his adversaries.

Psalm 112:6-8

Can I just be honest here? I have feared evil tidings. I have made doctor appointments and then cancelled them. I like denial. I don’t know which I think is more of an evil tiding—hearing a diagnosis or hearing a doctor say, “I just don’t know.”  Twenty of the past twenty two years, I have been in chronic pain. I had freedom from the pain for about three years and then it came back. New pain, new places in my body. I can’t even count how many trips I made to the doctor and how many evil tidings I have heard or worried about hearing. But this isn’t God’s best for me.

God’s best for me is outlined in the verse above. I am one of the righteous ones, not by my own efforts but because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

II Corinthians 5:21

My adversary is pain. What is yours? I know one day, I will look with satisfaction upon this adversary—when this pain no longer touches my body. But until then, I have a choice. Am I going to spend my time fearing evil tidings or trusting in the Lord? I have discovered that fear is actually worse than the pain, I suspect, but can’t prove, that fear even makes the pain worse. I can lock up against this pain, rail against it, or speak words of faith over the symptoms and relax and feel relief.

Lately my confession has been, “this is not my pain, this is not my pain,” over and over and over again, until I feel that peace come. The truth is that it isn’t my pain. It belongs to the devil who has been defeated on my behalf. When I can keep my focus on that truth, I find that fear tends to flee. And oftentimes, my body begins to relax, which actually reduces the pain.

What truth do you need to confess to overcome fear? What helps you let go of focusing on the what the adversary has brought to your life? What fears are keeping you up at night?

Speak His truth to the fear and watch it flee.

 Thank You, Father God, for Your words of truth that set us free. Help us to discern the lies of the devil and be quick to reject them. Bring to mind Your word when evil tidings come our way so that we can be steadfast, trusting in You. Thank You that the day is coming when we will look upon our adversaries with satisfaction. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I would love to hear from you. Please let me know if I can be praying for you as well.