Those 2 R's...

When fear (worry, concern, hyperventilation,fast heart beat, etc.) raises it's ugly head, sometimes the best thing for me to do is say out loud, to satan... GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!!

I am convinced that for us, as women, fear is one of our biggest pitfalls. Often it comes sneaking in through a crack in our minds that we thought was sealed up tight.

Here's the order it usually happens in my life:

...concern
...worry
...anxiety

It often begins with valid concern, about a situation or person or whatever it is...

Then my mind gets into gear. I can go from a sore throat to full blown cancer in a matter of seconds! 

A few of the potential pitfalls for many of us are...

...finances
...children
...marriage
...health
...relationships

If any one of those are off kilter, our wheels begin to turn, and churn. 

Satan quickly grabs hold of worry in my life, and uses all of his tools to make it bigger and worse!

Remember my dad's 2 R's??

RECOGNIZE IT...

REFUSE IT...

First, recognize that fear is not from God. He is not a God of fear. Honest concerns about life are real, but the scale gets tipped into fear if we do not guard our minds. God tells us exactly the opposite, that when these things come our way, we are to trust Him, with all of it.

Second, if we choose immediately to refuse it, satan will not get his foot into the open door of our minds. I am learning, after many years of trial and error, that the quicker I get to God with my worries, the better off I am... always! It requires a submission to Him of what is causing the worry. 

The temptation, for me, is to try to look at it from every angle and work it out myself first... than later, when it has grown and taken root, I realize... again... that God wants it... all of it, and that His promises cover it... all of it!