Defeat the Spirit of Fear With the Power of God
A NEW CHALLENGE
After Pat and Karen married in 1990, they served as youth pastors. In May, 1997, they left youth ministry to start Remnant Mininstries, under the auspices of The Assembly of God Church. Pat travelled as a full time evangelist, and Karen stayed home most the time with their son. Their desire was to share the gospel and see God draw people of all ages and backgrounds to Himself. Pat says their meetings prioritize altar calls and encounters with God, resulting in restoration and healing. He stayed closer to home when their son was in high school, and for the last 15 years, Karen and their daughter have travelled with him.
While their faith has grown greatly through the years, it was painfully tested when they received the news in 2017 that Karen had leukemia. Even before the diagnosis, Karen recalls hearing the Lord ask her, “Do you trust Me?” and impressing upon her that she was about to go through a difficult time. She admits that she’s struggled to trust others throughout her life and knew the Lord wanted her to trust Him fully in this and all trials. Fear has long been a challenge for Pat, who has struggled greatly with nightmares, worries, and even the fear of speaking in front of groups. During Karen’s cancer battle, he experienced great heaviness and went to their home altar often to ask God for mercy and healing for his wife.
OVERCOMING FEAR
“Fear is the greatest threat that exists to believers,” the Schatzlines believe. The opposite of faith, fear cripples a person through isolation and paralysis. They found relief from fear when they applied the truths of 2 Tim. 1:7: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” They say these three “weapons” serve to vanquish fear: POWER: We need to believe what the Bible says; that God has all power over the course of events, and that same spirit resides in us. LOVE: As Scripture tells us, perfect love drives out fear; they can’t co-exist. While love seems to be an unlikely weapon, it works by focusing us on God, to the exclusion of fear. SOUND MIND: Karen says that a believer’s mind is being renewed, revived, protected, and kept safe by truth and does not need to be affected to unfounded, fearful thinking. As the Schatzlines kept going back to these truths from God’s Word when fear arose, they found victory over it.
WHERE’S YOUR ROAR?
Pat says God asked him this question after a year of interceding for Karen, when her cancer was no longer found. He was exhausted and just wanted a season of rest, but sensed the Lord was calling them to declare the need for boldness to the church. After a study of lions in the Bible, he found that they roar for specific reasons: to establish their territory, to show their might, and to make their presence know when they are most active, in the in the morning and evening. He saw an application to believers lives in reclaiming the land, declaring our true identities, and offering praise to God, morning and evening. By nurturing the Holy Spirit in us in these ways, he says we will be rid of fear and stand strong in God’s protection.
