Petrify
At one point in my life I felt like I was stuck and unable to move.
I couldn’t pray.
I couldn’t understand any of the Scripture I was reading.
Then the Lord showed me a word:
Petrify.
To make rigid or inert like stone; to make lifeless or inactive (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
To make someone so frightened they are afraid to move. (Google)
That’s when I realized that silent, subtle doubt and fear had snuck into my life and petrified me.
This is what caused me to be stuck – I was paralyzed by fear.
I knew the remedy was to replace fear with faith.
I cried out to the Lord in prayer and asked Him to help me to break free and to show me what to do.
A phrase came to my mind.
“Perfect love casts out fear.” .
I remembered this is a verse from 1 John 4:18–
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (NIV)
You can’t have perfect love and fear at the same time.
A few verses earlier in this chapter it tells us that God is love and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (verse 16)
The answer was clear.
I had to choose God and His love over my fear.
Both can’t occupy the same place at the same time.
So I chose love.