“The reality is when we do not face our fears and choose to give them to God, we are choosing to live in bondage.”
Angie Tolpin in Redeeming Childbirth
Since the fall of humanity, fear has marked every single human being. We’re afraid of everything. Fear of the dark, fear of thunderstorms, fear of dogs, spiders and snakes, fear of the number 13, fear of being hurt, fear of failing, fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, fear of life.
Pregnancy and childbirth are no different. In fact, this is a time when fears seem to be magnified. Fear of eating the wrong thing, fear of medicines, fear of working too hard, fear of losing the baby, fear of pain, fear of medicines, fear of everything going wrong and even the fear of giving birth.
And this barely scratches the surface of the fears that we have.
But this should not be for God’s people!
Why?
Fear is a lack of faith!
Since we are a fallen people, it is impossible for us to never be afraid. In fact we are to fear God! But if we fear God then there is nothing else to fear.
When we place our trust in Jesus for salvation and life, these fears have no place because the God of the universe is holding us.
Fears will often sneak up on us when we least expect it. Because fear is part of our sinful hearts, we may be living in fear and not be aware of it.
“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. Who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 ESV
Fear lies in the depths of our hearts and we cannot understand what is happening in our hearts. But God does!
Therefore we must ask God to search our hearts and reveal the fears of our hearts to us so that we can face them head on, taking them to the foot of the cross and leaving them there for Jesus to take care of. Because, as Angie said, to not face these fears is to live in bondage.
Satan wants to keep us afraid. Remember fear is sin because God has told us to fear not! And Satan wants to keep us in this sin.
So what do we do with our fears?
Confess Them!
So frequently we’re afraid to say our fears because we believe it will cause something bad to happen. It’s a lie that’s been fed to us by the devil and culture.
But God continually tells us to bring sin into the light!
Fear is sin, so when we admit our fears we are bringing our sin into the light and confessing where we have fallen short!
Instead of giving fear power, which is what Satan would have us believe it will do, it actually takes the power of fear away because it is now in the light!
Speak your fear! Confess it to God! Confess it to others! This takes away the bondage and power of fear.
Get into God’s Word so that you can see yourself and your fears rightly next to His Truth.
This is crucial to preparing for labor! This prepares you in every way. Fears can hold you back in so many ways. Release these fears to God so every part of you is released from the bondage of sin and fear and ready for the beauty of giving birth.
What are you afraid of?
Speak it out loud! Let God remove the power of fear in your life.