Face it.

Then the people came to Moses and cried out, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take away the snakes.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” So Moses made a snake out of bronze and attached it to a pole. Then anyone who was bitten by a snake could look at the bronze snake and be healed!

Numbers 21:7-9 NLT

Read time: 9 mins

Andy Casagrande is known for being an Emmy-winning cinematographer and apex predator expert. He has spent much of his career with dangerous predators such as king cobras and American Alligators. He has been in close quarters with lions as they devoured their prey and he has hung out with polar bears as they cared for their young. But If you grew up like me, watching Discovery Channel, you've seen his work as he was tasked with filming and exploring the ocean homes of great white sharks. 

Andy has had many life-threatening encounters as you can imagine, and with those encounters, he has learned a lot of lessons. When being interviewed, Andy was asked, “What do you do when a great white shark is swimming at you?” His response may sound counterintuitive. You may think the best option is to turn your back and swim away from the threat, as fast as possible. But Andy went on to explain that in that type of situation, you cannot swim away immediately. If you run from a shark, they'll assume you're prey and pursue you even harder. But if you make eye contact with the shark and confidently swim toward it, your action will trigger a defense mechanism in the shark and scare it away. If you run from the shark, the shark will assume that this new object it sees is something else for it to eat, but if you swim towards it, it will assume that you are another animal that has made up its mind to eat it. In a sea where almost everything runs from sharks, the only thing that runs towards sharks is the Orca, an animal that is known to kill sharks. Facing your threat turns you into the threat. 

I believe many of the challenges in our lives function like sharks. They attack when we run but retreat when we fight back. The Bible tells us that the devil is like a roaring lion, seeking who he may devour. However, it goes on to say that if we just resist him, he will flee. If you fight back, you will win. The devil is a coward. He puffs himself up to intimidate but shutters when you mention the name of the one who has defeated him. The devil knows he has lost, so his biggest game plan is to convince you to forfeit or forget your own victory. He can't defeat you, so his only option is to hope you defeat yourself. He does this by leveraging the lies and traumas you've come in contact with. He lies about who God is and who you are so that you don't tap into your true potential. Some of the top tools that the devil uses to get you to hold yourself back from your victory are fear, shame, and insecurity. 

Many of our fears, shame, insecurities, and traumas are like shackles that hold us back from reaching our purpose. The devil knows that if he can keep you afraid, he can often keep you from fighting. If he can keep you crippled by shame, he can maybe prevent you from receiving your healing. If he can keep you shacked with insecurity, he may be able to stop you from letting your light shine and truly impacting the world. I believe that if we face our fears, we can actually defeat the very things that are persecuting us. 

If we’re honest, the reason many of us have been shackled by fear is because we have believed a lie about God or about ourselves. The devil is trying to maximize your past hurts to convince you not to try again. He is trying to capitalize on your mistakes to convince you that you are a failure. He doesn’t want us to ask for help or face our fears.

Licensed mental health counselor and ordained minister, Jay Stringer in his book, Unwanted, argues that sexual brokenness reveals the way to our healing. He explains how many of the people who face sexual addictions such as porn, prostitution, or infidelity often try to suppress or avoid their addictions. Their battle plan is often to sweep it under the rug and try to move past their issue as fast as possible, but this passive approach never seems to work. Stringer argues that those experiencing addictions should actually face the issue head-on. They should look at their addictions and ask questions such as when they started and what they typically look like. They should look for patterns and pressures that may fuel their destructive behaviors. They should look to stop the issue at the root. 

You may not be dealing with sexual issues but your emotional blocks lead to outward behaviors in the same way. Those who want to fight emotional and spiritual roadblocks should lean into them. I’m telling you to not ignore the fight. I’m telling you to truly take the time to understand the emotions, triggers, and causes of your unwanted issues. Understand what is fueling your unwanted behaviors so you can heal at the source and not just put a bandaid over the symptoms. Facing your challenge is the first step in truly finalizing it. 

Stringer argues that many of the abusive addictions and crippling mindsets of shame, fear, and insecurity that hold us captive are like rivers fueled by the tributaries of past pains and present pressures. As the pains of the past and pressures of the present converge, they trigger us to relive or react to the hurts we are being reminded of, thus keeping us in a cycle of trauma long after the initial incidents are over. 

This is important to understand because it helps us come to grips with the fact that if something is crippling you in your present, the best course of action is to “swim upstream” and find the source from the past that is fueling your constriction. When we go upstream to ask ourselves why we are afraid, why we feel shame, or why we feel insecure, we will often recognize that our fears are irrational, our shame is based on a lie, and our insecurity isn't warranted. In order to be free from the things the devil has used to cripple, you have to face them. In order to get free from these past pains, you have to take the time to explore them. 

I find this story in the bible interesting because the Israelites have been overrun by poisonous snakes and many of them have gotten sick or died. These snakes have caused pain and trauma. They have the wisdom firstly to ask for help. The Bible says there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. They turn to God and trusted advisors in Moses. Then the remedy God gives them isn’t to run away or avoid the pain. The remedy is to face the very thing that has been hurting them. Moses puts a bronze snake on a pole, and whoever looks at it is healed. Could it be that this is a window into the healing God wants to give us? Instead of sweeping our traumas and pains under the rug, maybe the prescribed method for our healing is admitting and facing our hurts. I believe God is calling us to do the same thing. It takes hard conversations to grow. Facing your past will hurt but a painful time of surgery is better than walking with a limp for the rest of your life while acting like everything is ok. Some of the Israelites were probably traumatized by the very sight of a snake. But by facing the source of their hurt, they initiated their healing. Being honest about the source of our fears is often the key to fighting through them. We have to face the painful parts of life in order to overcome them. Think to your childhood and upbringing. Face your past to understand your present. 

This may seem like a scary concept but it’s an optical illusion. The hard conversation will be worth it. There are animals that have adapted to scare their potential predators by pretending that they are bigger than they are. At first sight, they are terrifying. But as soon as you investigate, you recognize that your fears are unwarranted. Fear paralyzes until you face it. There have been many times at night when my gaze may be drawn to what I perceive as an eerie figure in the corner of my room. You've probably had this same experience. I may think that a monster or other problematic person is hiding in my room to do harm, but as soon as I fully turn towards it, I realize it's just a jacket on a chair or a shoe I left on the floor. I imagine it to be scarier when I avoid looking but when I look I recognize I have nothing to be afraid of. Fears are heightened when you don't face them, but they are exposed when you do. Many of our fears and insecurities are like mold. They fester in dark places. They look scarier than they are when they're hidden. But when we are bold enough to face them and challenge our fears and insecurities with what God says about us and our loves, they stand no chance. 

In order to be truly fearless, you have to recognize where your fears are being fueled and cut the supply. Ask yourself why you are afraid. Ask yourself what specifically you are afraid of. Take a trip upstream to discover what is fueling your fear. What past hurts are fueling this fear? What trauma are you afraid to relive? What pain are you over-correcting to avoid? This is something I do with myself and others as we walk through emotional blocks of fear or insecurity and it does wonders in coaching and counseling. Be honest. Verbalize what you are really afraid of at the core. Do you feel like you won't be safe or respected? Do you feel like you wont be loved or desired? Do you feel like you are allowed to speak up or have an opinion? Why or why not? What pain are you trying to avoid and is the fear of that pain really warranted? Many of the biggest fears and insecurities we face are prompted by us running from the pains of abandonment, abuse or lack of connection we may have felt in childhood. Many of the negative things we run to are our minds subconsciously running to things that will self-soothe those hurts. Healing is like digging with a shovel. It'll only go as deep as you allow it. What potential hurt are you running from? 

As you face your hurts and ask these questions, you're opening the door to a deeper sense of healing that you have never experienced before. As you go on this journey of self-discovery, I don't just want you to uncover and outline your hurts. Ask yourself how the promises of God combat them. The devil's main ploy is deception because He knows if you recognize the truth about God's power and desire in your life, you can actually break free. When you realize God’s identity and what that means for you, it impacts how you respond to your past hurts. Create a battle plan. Combat the devils lies with what you know about God. 

We need to take the first step in facing our hurts. Yes, you should face them by investing in a Christian counselor or advisor, but first you need to face them yourself. A trusted therapist may be able to help you on that journey. Admit that you can grow. We are all called to leadership and influence. Emotional intelligence to a leader is like rebar to a skyscraper. What you can be trusted to carry depends on your structural integrity. Face your fears. Face your emotions. And it will open new doors of healing and wholeness that you didn’t even know were possible. 

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