How To Respond To Intimidation?

I previously discussed why we feel intimidated and some of the methods that the enemy will use to intimidate us. I wanted  to move on to how we can respond to the intimidation that we will face. If we are not fully equipped when we are faced with intimidation, it can be a really hard situation to get through.

As I mentioned previously, sometimes we feel intimidated because we fear people more that we fear God. But here are some of the keys to responding to that intimidation:

We must have the right perspective
When we are up against intimidation, we need to get God's perspective of whats happening. Its easy to just think of it through our limited perspective, but then it just makes the situation look much worse. If we try to understand the situation through our own perspective we can very easily make mistakes. In my previous post, I referred to the story of Sennacherib threatening Jerusalem (Isaiah 36). In the Isaiah 37, it tells of King Hezekiah humbling himself and going to the prophet Isaiah for assistance. He seeks Gods assistance when he recieved the threats from Sennacherib. Simply....Hezekiah had a vision and he made changes.

Jesus speaks of perspective and how we see things in Matthew 6:22-23

Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

We all see the same thing, but its the way we perceive that image which dictates how we respond. We are presented with opportunities every day of our life, but each of will perceive the situation differently. For example you may be presented with an opportunity to serve in your church, you might be presented with a job opportunity etc...but if we dont allow us to take God's perspective we may find ourselves intimidated by the situation. We may think that some other person will do the job better than us, or we will fail, or we are not good enough. All these doubts and fears will creep in. But this is not what God intended for us! He has a plan and a purpose for our lives...far greater than we could ever imagine. Thats why its so important that we take His perspective. Just  as it says in the above verse, the eyes provide light to our body. We need to ensure that our eyes see things the way God intends us to, we need to get Gods perspective of things.

We must hold our nerve
This may sound so simple, but its crucial. In the story of Hezekiah, he didnt just lay down when he was confronted by the Assyrian's...he stood firm! This is something that we must also apply in our lives. When we are intimidated during our walk with Jesus, we cant just run away, but we must stand firm and hold our nerve. It is very easy to just run from our purpose when we hit trouble.  We cant let the circumstances allow us to compromise our calling, what God has planned for us.

We must pray
When we are faced with difficulty and intimidation, we must seek advice from the Lord. Its very easy to run to a friend for advice, but they will not always have the right perspective. When Hezekiah was faced with intimidation, he didnt go to his advisors for help this time. He went to the prophet Isaiah, he was after a word from God. We must take our problems to the one who has the right perspective.


Get real and honest
When we come up against difficulties, we must be realistic about our situation. We see in Isaiah 37:14, Hezekiah goes before the Lord when he receives the threatening letter from the Asyrians. He lays it out before God, and prays. This is the perfect picture of what we should do, we should bring our problems before God and pray. The intimidation we face isnt just about us, it relates to our God, it is stopping us from completing our purpose. Just look at Psalm's, many of them start out as stories of sadness, rejection, mistakes. But as they go, they turn into songs of praise, with a vision of victory and the power of God. We must have the same approach, lay your troubles at the feet of our Lord, allow Him to work a miracle in our situation and praise him.


Forgive
In the past, Hezekiah and his advisors had ignored Isaiah, but when they were in desperate need, they came running to him for help and guidance. It would have been very easy for Isaiah to turn them away, but he didn't. The advisor's had come before him wearing sackcloth, not the magnificent robes they were used to. We must be able to forgive also, in these times of intimidation.


Sing the song of victory before its achieved
After Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, Isaiah responded with a song of victory from God...before the victory was even achieved!! We are able to live in the knowledge that God will never abandon us, and will see us victorious. So even before we see the victory, we can praise Him and give thanks.


Know God's purpose in your life
I have already touched on this, but its imperative that we know God's calling for our life. that way we can be confident that even when we face troubles, we know God will guide us, since we haven't achieved our purpose yet. An example of this was in Acts 28:3 where Paul is attacked by viper, but he just flings it into the fire. He knew he hadn't achieved his purpose yet, he still had work to do. When we view our success, we must see that its through the power of God.

God never intended us to feel intimidated. We must look at our purpose in life, and work towards it. When we know what our purpose is, we will be able to defeat intimidation. We must remember that in the end, we are all accountable for the purpose God has given us.