I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 (NIV)

We are now in the season of Lent. Though my church doesn’t formally observe it, I find that offering myself up to Lent provides a gentle reset, beautifully synchronized with winter giving way to spring. Just as new buds form on the trees and fresh life emerges, I experience a similar renewal when I choose to die to self by surrendering unnecessary excess.

Each year, I ask God what the focus of my fasting should be. It’s rarely food or drink—usually something subtler yet more consuming. As 2026 began, I sensed this would be a year of decrease. The word I received at the same time was abundance, and I immediately understood it meant releasing excess so He could become greater in my life. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, and I long to experience that spiritual abundance—more of Him.

True abundance, however, cannot coexist with life lived the same old way. The enemy prowls, seeking to devour that abundance before it ever emerges—killing our peace, stealing our joy, and destroying tender new fruit. Often, we don’t even notice this happening. We maintain a mental checklist of “forbidden” sins—sexual immorality, idolatry, envy, greed, slander—and assume that if we avoid them, we’re doing fine. Yet those overt sins are rarely what block spiritual abundance. The real barrier is often the focus of our thoughts and attention—the things that produce pseudo-fruit: false peace, temporary joy, self-serving love, control that never exercises trust, and self-sufficiency that keeps us from waiting on the Lord.

This is exactly where I found myself recently. Medical issues left me scared, if I’m honest. The enemy knocked, offering a package of “what ifs” wrapped in fear. Instead of refusing to answer the door—or sending God to answer it for me—I opened it and accepted the delivery. As I recklessly unpackaged it, the “what ifs” began to run rampant in my mind.

Our flesh wars with the spirit, and sometimes we seek peace to calm these raging (and sometimes irrational) fears the way the world does—through artificial means. For me, that meant the internet. Despite a strong testimony of choosing God over Google during my oldest sister’s cancer battle, the enemy knows this remains a weakness and still tempts me there. This time, I took the bait, chasing reassurance and peace in medical data and statistics.

To be clear, the internet and gaining knowledge aren’t sinful. They can be valuable resources. But when we use that knowledge to quiet our fears instead of taking those fears directly to Christ—where His perfect love casts out all fear—we miss the mark entirely. We trade abiding peace for informational reassurance. Our gaze shifts inward, and we stop reflecting the Light because we are no longer receiving from it (John 8:12).

This inward focus often leads us to pray for God to remove a situation while simultaneously trying to manage it ourselves. When the answer doesn’t come quickly, we double down on control rather than release, revealing our lack of trust in God. For me, the stronghold was compulsive searching—seeking relief in information instead of intimacy with Him.

That’s exactly what the enemy wants because it is so effective in distancing us from God and distracting us from the Kingdom. Seeking to gratify our flesh with answers instead of seeking first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) always leads down a darker path. The temporary peace it brings is counterfeit—the enemy masquerading as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

Counterfeit light is still darkness, and this darkness quietly feeds fear beneath the surface. It keeps us self-centered and diverts us from abiding in Christ and accomplishing His will. This is what the enemy counts on: enlarging fear until it captures all of our thoughts.

Thankfully, God met me in that place and gently redirected me. I knew this behavior had to be starved while I waited for the fear to be fully conquered in partnership with Him. Fear must be uprooted at its source, and we must not shrink back from stepping forward into it with God. A big part of this is choosing the harder—but truer—path of bringing the fear itself into the light. It’s not merely facing our fears for our own awareness. Instead, it’s drawing near to God and being honest about what we are truly afraid of at the core of the fear-producing circumstance.

Yes, we can even be honest with God about what we feel deep down—including a lack of trust that everything will be okay. In that honesty, something shifts. We move from facing our fears alone to facing them with God through abiding—and abiding changes everything.

Abiding brings perfect peace because it leads us to know God as our true source in the midst of dark circumstances. Perceived threats are replaced with truth. We begin laying every “what if” at the feet of God, resting in the assurance that He is more than capable of handling any reality if the “what if” ever becomes “what is.”

Scripture promises that if we seek first the kingdom of God rather than seeking answers to our concerns from a worldly perspective, all these things will be added (Matthew 6:32–33).

What things?

Everything needed for authentic spiritual abundance and fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

It may not feel like it in the moment, but this answer—receiving these things—is far better than God simply eliminating the cause of the fear. Because this is what draws us closer to Christ and shapes us to become more like Him. It is what produces lasting peace and deepens our trust.

The passage continues with the reminder: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:34). Because in Him, we already have everything we need.

Many scriptures reinforce this truth. One of my favorites comes from Isaiah and has long been a pillar for me in times of trouble:

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].”
Isaiah 26:3 (AMP)

I love how the Amplified Version highlights that a steadfast mind is one committed and focused on God in both inclination and character. There is no room for partial surrender or divided allegiance (James 1:8). A truly steadfast mind turns to Him first by nature.

We take thoughts captive to Christ the moment anything else interrupts, remembering His past faithfulness, comfort, and abiding love as proof that we can trust Him now. From experience, I already know that when I’ve encountered a real circumstance—not just a perceived threat—God’s surpassing peace has always met me there. I can always go back to that truth for reassurance.

Last week, I completed tests that easily could have consumed my thoughts. But I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears (Psalm 34:4). What I initially accepted from the enemy, God marked returned to sender and instead gifted me with peace. Not the peace of understanding or additional knowledge, but the peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:6–7).

If you are in a place of fear, know that you can find the same peace in the same way.

Our peace comes from:

• Resisting the enemy (James 4:7) and his temptation to seek pseudo-peace
• Casting our anxiety on Jesus (1 Peter 5:7) and fixing our mind on Him (Isaiah 26:3)
• Taking our thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Setting our mind on things above (Colossians 3:2)
• Allowing the Holy Spirit—rather than the internet, if that’s a problem for you—to be our Comforter (John 14:26)

Don’t be afraid to bring the fullness of your fears before the Lord. Invite Him to uproot the fear itself, rather than just simply praying for peace. When you choose to abide solely in Him, His peace always comes.

Because when God becomes our sole source, He becomes our soul source. And in Him, there is always perfect peace.

And perhaps this is the true abundance Christ promised—not a life free from uncertainty, but a life so anchored in Him that fear no longer can take up any space in our minds. When we release our need to control outcomes and instead abide in Him, His peace, presence, and fruit overflow in ways far greater than anything the world could offer.

That is the abundance found solely in Him.

Ardently His,
Leah

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