Have you ever been afraid? I am not talking about being startled or having a sudden fright, but really being afraid! I always call that type of fright being ascared! It is not really a word; it is the combination of being afraid and being scared, ascared! You are really in bad shape.

I remember when I was really young my Grandma and Grandpa lived in this huge old house. It was white and two stories tall. It was on Holt Street, one of the busiest streets in Ontario, California. We would visit them there every so often, which I loved to do, but I never did like the house. It was spooky. When ever we were there I was afraid! That is until I was told the story, then I was ascared!

Most of my cousins were older than me, most by a couple of years. I don’t know how it happened but one day some of them told me a spooky story. Now this story was supposed to be real. I was around five years old so of course I believed anything that I was told, especially by my cousins. The story they told me was of one of them being in the bathroom. They looked up at the window and there was a man looking through the window at them. This man had yellow gloves on his hands which were on the window. He was ugly and looked mean when he was looking at them. Now common sense now tells me this could not have been true because there was still a bathroom door and if that had happened it would have been knocked off its hinges as they ran through it.

From that moment on I was no longer afraid to go into that bathroom. I want you to know I wasn’t scared to go into that bathroom. I was ascared to go into that bathroom! In fact, I refused to go to the bathroom alone. I remember my mother having to go with me. I remember one of my uncles going with me. My dad went with me. It didn’t matter; I had to have someone with me because I was ascared to be in that room alone. Every time I looked at the window I saw an ugly man with yellow gloves on his hands and his face pressed against the window looking at me. I was ascared!

Of course there was no man at the window. There had never been a man at the window. This was just a cruel joke to play on a younger child. However, it tormented me the whole time my Grandparents lived in that house. I remember there being nights I had a hard time sleeping when we would visit because I was ascared of the imaginary man.

Despite the above incident I am not a fearful person. I am logical and practical, almost to a fault sometimes. As a young pastor I would have people who would come and talk to me about fear. They would share with me what they were feeling and it was so real to them. If I can be honest, I would walk away shaking my head because to me is seemed almost ridiculous. I couldn’t understand it. I tried to be kind and I tried to listen to them. I wanted to help them. I just didn’t know where they were coming from.

One night I was lying in bed reading a book. It was late and the house was quiet. I slipped into a “Day Dream.” I was wide awake. My eyes were wide open but I was staring into space. Without warning my heart started racing, very rapidly. My breathing became really short and shallow. At first I was wondering if I was having a heart attack but there were absolutely no physical indications other than the two things I mentioned. I suddenly realized I was having a panic attack of sorts. As I was “Day Dreaming” without even realizing it was happening I had began to realize that some day I was going to die!

I was only about thirty-five years old. My health was very good. I was pastoring a church, starting a daughter work in another city. We were in a building program. I was working a full time job and doing some part time work on the side. There was nothing wrong with me physically. I felt I had the world by the tail. There was nothing that I couldn’t do and not much I wasn’t going to try to do if I felt the desire. I had never worried about death. I had never give it any thought other than to think one of these days I am going to be about one hundred and twenty and will probably die.

So where did this thought come from? For the first time in my life I felt my mortality, I realized that I could die at any moment. I didn’t know when it would happen, that was frightening! I didn’t know how it would happen, that was scary! I didn’t know who would take care of my wife, my kids, my parents, who would pastor my church; this caused me to be afraid! Friend, let me tell you within just a few moments this “bullet proof” man was ascared!

Why? Nothing had changed! I was still as healthy as I had ever been! I was just as strong as I had been moments before! I hadn’t even moved I hadn’t even changed positions! I was suddenly ascared because of thoughts that had raced through my mind. Within just a few moments all this had taken place and when it did I began to pray!

As I talked with the Lord and shared what I was feeling, the Lord let me to know that He had allowed it. He made me to know that He had allowed this to happen so I would understand what others were dealing with. I came to realize that fear doesn’t have to make sense. Fear doesn’t have to be rational. Fear doesn’t have to even be about something that is real. Fear is something that many times is spiritual. Fear many times is just something that happens in our minds.

Paul told Timothy, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. “ (2 Tim 1:7) Fear is a spirit that we have to deal with. It is real! It is controlling! Also, fear can happen to us all! However we must remember that fear doesn’t come from God. It is a spirit that works against the Spirit of God.

Paul assures us that the Spirit of God is a spirit of power. Power is the opposite of fear. You do not feel fear when you feel you have control. You do not feel fear when you feel strong. You do not feel fear when the person you have put your trust is present. Why? The reason is power will overcome fear. God has given us the Spirit of Power. Not power in ourselves, but power through Him. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)

He also assures us that we have received the Spirit of Love! John speaks to us of perfect love. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. “(1 John 4:18-19) Fear brings feelings of loneliness. Fear brings feelings of hopelessness. Fear brings feelings of abandonment. Fear brings feelings of depressions and torment. All of these are the opposite of love. Love overcomes fear, love cast it out. Love makes you feel comfort. Love brings hope. Love causes you to feel wanted and cherished. Love will brighten your day and shine on your tomorrows.

The phrase that I find so interesting in this scripture is the phrase “sound mind.” God has given us the Spirit of a sound mind. That term actually means disciplined or self-controlled. Many times fear is the result of a mind that is undisciplined or out of control. My stories are examples of this.

There was not a man looking through the bathroom window. Yet, because of fabrications that had been told me by, (I started to say Satan but I actually think it was his kids) my cousins I was ascared. My mind or imagination went to work overtime. It didn’t matter what time it was when I went into the bathroom, he was there looking in the window. Now it was real to me! Yet it happened only because my mind was out of control.

There was nothing wrong with me! There was no reason to have a panic attack because some day I am going to die. It wasn’t as if I were having physical problems. However, my mind went out of control. What I was experiencing was as real to me as if it were actually a reality and happening within the next few moments. My mind was out of control.

Remember when you were a child and heard the creak of the house in the middle of the night. You might have heard the tapping of a branch on the window pane. Suddenly you knew there was someone coming down the hall! There was a monster in your closet! There were spooks under your bed! Burglars trying to break the window! You went screaming to mom or dad! I’m ascared! I’m ascared! Why! I don’t know I just am! Friend the fear was real but what you were frightened of was the result of an undisciplined or out of control mind.

At times I have begun to let my mind go because of worry. I would think what if "this" happens. Then what if a second "this" happens because the first "this" happened. I would find myself going from there and pretty soon I would have this terrible mess that I was ascared of and none of it had even happened. It was the result of a mind out of control.

What I am saying is this, fear is not of God. Fear comes from the enemy of our soul because he knows that fear results in torment. A tormented soul is not a trusting soul. It is a soul that is without joy, hope or promise. However, perfect love is a mature and complete love. It is a love that is the result of trust, faith, confidence, loyalty and belief in the one whom you love.

Let me encourage you to fight fear spiritually! When I feel a fearful spirit coming on me I try to remember II Timothy 1:7. “God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” I don’t have to be ascared. I begin to pray that scripture and begin to claim that promise. I add other scriptures to it about faith, truth and love. I rebuke fear and pray in the Spirit of God. I don’t have to be ascared!