What fear has done.

To say 2020 has been challenging is an understatement. Many of my fellow ministers and myself have been commenting, “this came out of nowhere.” I got convicted the other day. I realized, that wasn’t necessarily true. As a believer, I read the word, and understand that we are on His timetable. I have sat under many men and women of God who have been hearing for years that a shaking was coming to the church. It is safe to say, we are in the shaking. My husband shared with me last week; he often bounces his thoughts off of me as we drive, “Liz, 9-11 was one disaster centralized to a couple of locations. Hurricanes and tornados affect the regional location that they develop in. But, this pandemic and the protests, have changed our entire nation.” And it’s true, we have all been affected. The “American Spirit” of running to aid our brother is being halted by the fear of spreading a virus. It is challenging times.

Proverbs 29:25 “Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”

I have been praying about fear. This emotion has completely consumed our society. In every area, region and state, we are all filtering “fear”. At the beginning of the virus pandemic, I was praying one day, and asked the Lord to give Clint and I peace as we lead our 65 churches through this chaos of regulations, fear and sickness. That night in mid March I had a dream. The Holy Spirit took me to the top of our nation, on the Canadian border, around the Niagara Falls area. We were going to a restaurant, in the dream we knew that it was a very nice, almost formal dining. As we made our way to a town center, we were escorted in a vehicle, this car drove itself and took us to this restaurant that was on the edge of the falls, at the bottom of a ridge. It was a steep drive. We arrived at the restaurant, we were seated by a host, and within seconds three masked waitresses appeared, they were dressed in all black and their face masks were black. In the dream, Father spoke to me and said, “Liz, these are 3 spirits; Fear. Intimidation. Death.” I woke up shortly after, very startled by the gravity of the dream.

In March, I journaled the dream. Clint and I prayed over it. and I shared with my Regional ladies group about overcoming fear, intimidation and death spirits. But, I felt their was more to the dream. Now, here we are in July, and the dream is very clear to me. These are the 3 strongholds we are waking up to every day. The media has created the storm and the world is responding. I am finding that some ministers are getting caught up in this storm. God has clearly spoken, several times. This is the time for the Body of Christ to be proactive, not reactive, we must lead, harvest and love. I feel the purpose of my sharing is not to bore you with the study and exegesis of the spirits of fear, intimidation and death. I think those of you reading can find a wealth of knowledge by some amazing teachers and preachers. I feel the urgency of this writing is to remind us that this is our time. We do not need to grow weary in well doing. In the dream, at this restaurant, Clint and I were approached by the 3 waitresses. They were going to “serve” us from the menus of fear, intimidation and death. I surmised after 4 months of this pandemic and racial chaos that we have the option, will we order? Will we partake in this fear? Will be intimidated by ‘what could be’? Will we be paralyzed and taken into a depressed state?

I have personally been affected by the virus. I have had family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances who have suffered or are suffering from the virus. We are pretty sure we have been exposed several times and have taken several precautions and made health choices. I am not an ostrich, I am not sticking my head in the sand. The virus, unfortunately is real. The protests are real. We live in the Columbus, Ohio area, for 2 weeks our phones abruptly alerted us to stay home and the curfew was enforced. I questioned visiting my local Wal-Mart several times, during those weeks. My purpose is not to lead us to evade reality. My purpose is to encourage us to spiritually take arms and go forward. Years ago I was so convicted by Dutch Sheets’ mission statement, “Awakening in our day, Reformation in our lifetime.” DSM now uses Awaken | Teach | Reform. But, I was reminded of this previous mission statement and how it impacted me. Being awakened is not always that grand, it is a startling. And experiencing the reformation that follows, is a result of that awakening. Will this be the church. Will we allow this shaking and awakening usher us into the reformation of our families, our churches, our nation?

If the dream I had in March would have continued. I feel certain, Clint and I would have made the choice to leave the restaurant and not been “served” by those spirits. Friends, we have a choice. It is only July 2020. I am choosing at the half way mark of the year, to overcome fear, avoid falling prey to intimidation and conquer the spirit of death that is looming.

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not giving us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

With Hope, Liz