Sunday, February 19, 2012

Fear

We all experience fear. The thing is God does not want us to be afraid. We do not need to be afraid of anything when we have faith in him. Joyce Meyer said in her ministry that Fear is an instrument used by Satan. She also gave a life point that we should make a mantra for ourselves. The Joyce Meyer life point is: I will not fear because God is with me!
            I struggle severely with fear. I can’t drive a car because I have a fear of being in an accident while driving. I won’t do a lot of things by myself, or will have someone else do them for me because I am afraid to do them for myself. My mom always has to call the doctor or something for me because I am too afraid to talk to anyone on the phone I do not know. The thing is I know the people who work at the doctors’ offices. I am afraid to ride on a train or fly on an airplane. I absolutely hate meeting new people, but being a servant of God, it is really important to meet new people. That is how you witness to people and encourage them to follow Christ and serve God. Fear runs my life in some areas. It is very difficult to remember that God is with me and won’t let anything happen to me that he doesn’t want to happen to me. We all need to learn that fear prevents us from doing things, and sometimes that means we don’t do certain things that God wants us to do. Nothing short of death should keep us from doing the work God has given us to do.
Genesis 15:1 After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
            Why would Abram be afraid? Perhaps he feared revenge from the kings he had just defeated (14:15). Gad gave him two good reasons, however to not be afraid. He told him he would protect him, he was his shield, and he promised to be Abram’s “very great reward.” When we fear what lies ahead, we must remember that God will stay with us through difficult times and he has promised us great blessings.
Genesis 46:3-4 3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you until a great nation there. 4 I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”
            God told Jacob not to fear going into Egypt, because he would always be there with him and his people. God makes that same promise to us today. When he gives us something to do, he is not going to give it to us and then abandon us. No, God is going to be there with us to guide us and help us whenever we need it.
Job 28:28
            And he said to man, “The fear of the Lord-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”
            “The fear of the Lord” is a key theme in the wisdom literature (Job through Song of Songs). It means to have respect and reverence for God and to be in awe of his majesty and power. This is the starting point to finding real wisdom. In the case of fearing God, you do not really fear him, you are holding respect and reverence for him. So, fearing God is not actual fear, it is respect.
Psalm 27:1 The Lord (Jehovah) is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?
            This reinforces my point about that we all feel fear. But, with God’s help we can conquer our fears. To beat our fear, we must remember what David said, The Lord is my light and salvation.
Exodus 14: 10-11 10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?”
            The Israelites were terrified of everything. There are many examples of the Israelites acting like this with Moses. They were terrified of what awaited them outside of Egypt. They didn’t have faith in what Moses had said and they didn’t have faith in God, who had sent Moses. God is never going to send us out somewhere without protecting us. God is never going to ask something of us if He doesn’t think we can do it. God was delivering his chosen people and instead of trusting him, they were afraid and wanted to return to Egypt. This is one of the many; many times the Israelites didn’t have faith in God. It took them forty years to complete an eleven day journey. Why did it take so long? Well, because they were afraid. That wasn’t the only reason, but it played a huge part in all the other reasons.
Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
            See, here again the Israelites are afraid. In the previous before this, God has come to speak with them freely, but they stay away, fearful that they will die. Moses tries to convince them that there is nothing to fear, but they do not believe it. We should of course fear God, but the fear we should feel is one of awe and respect. That is a very different fear than what the Israelites felt during their time in the desert, or wilderness as it is called a lot in the Bible. The fear they felt was the fear we often feel when in a situation we are uncomfortable with. As I said before, I am afraid of the dark, among other things, but we’ll just use this as an example. When I am in the dark, I start getting a little freaked out. I am constantly looking around me to make sure I am alone, or that the people I am with are still there. When a person is afraid, they act a certain way. We all act differently, but we all feel the same. I am sure that if any of us had been in the situation the Israelites were in we’d be fearful of God the same way they were.
Deuteronomy 2:25 This very day I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and tremble and be in anguish because of you.
            God is telling Moses that he will make the nations fear the Israelites. The Israelite army was not intimidating by any means, but when they fought, God was with them and he often helped them win any battle. Fighting God would make any nation tremble. God’s awesome and mighty power is not a power to reckon with. Of course, these nations did not know nor believe in God, so they had no way of knowing for sure that God was even involved in anything.
Judges 7:10-11 10 “If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah 11 and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.
            God had chosen Gideon to lead the Israelites to victory. Gideon however, was afraid. He did not understand why God would choose him for such a mission. He felt inadequate. He was the youngest son of his family, and his clan was the smallest. God sometimes uses those who are the most unlikely. Moses was raised in the Egyptian court, but God used him. God used David, a young shepherd boy to defeat Goliath and the Philistine army. God is using me, a young woman with nothing to show for myself except a college degree to teach you the Word. It isn’t always the biggest or oldest or most likely to succeed God calls to do something. It is most often those of us who would never expect to be used by God in big ways. We should never be afraid of doing what God wants us to do; because God would never ask us to if He didn’t know that we could.
1 Chronicles 28:20 David also said, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
            David told his son, Solomon that there was no reason to fear God. God had a job for Solomon, to build the temple at Jerusalem, and God was not going to leave Solomon until the job was done. When God gives us a job, he is not going to give it to us and then just sit back and see how and what we do with it. He is going to be with us throughout the whole thing, and he is going to guide us and help us when we need it.
Nehemiah 2:2-3 2 …so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of the heart.” I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and it’s gates have been destroyed by fire?”
            Nehemiah was not ashamed to admit he was afraid; nor did he let his fear keep him from doing what he needed to. Most of us would not be so bold as to do what needed to be done despite fear. Most of us run away when we experience fear. There is nothing wrong with feeling fear, but we are not to let it control us. Fear is often a good thing, it helps keep us on edge, but we cannot give into it, we must continue with whatever we are doing.
Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare but whoever trusts the Lord is kept safe.
            We cannot allow the fear of other people rule over us. It can hamper everything we try to do. Instead, we must take our fear and turn it into trust in God, only with trust in God can we get through our fear and not let it control our lives.
Mark 6:49-50 …but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
            Jesus had sent the Disciples out ahead of him so he could dismiss the crowd after he preached and then pray. The boat with the Disciples was out in the middle of the lake, so Jesus walked on the water to the boat. The Disciples were understandably afraid at the sight of him walking on water. After all, we cannot walk on water. Jesus reassured them not to be afraid, because it was him. When we experience fear, we can always be sure that God is there with us.
Mark 12: 4-5 4 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
            Fear of opposition or ridicule can weaken our witness for Christ. Often we cling to peace and comfort, even at the cost of our walk with God. Jesus reminds us that we should fear (respect) God because he controls eternal, and not merely temporal circumstances. We cannot allow fear of a person or a group to keep us from standing up for Christ.
Mark 12:42-43 42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believe him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
            Just as bad as not believing, is believing and not admitting it. Many people back in Jesus’ time wanted to believe, but the fear of being excommunicated from the synagogue kept them from confessing it. Early Christians had to face a lot more than just being excommunicated. Early Christians had to go through hardships, like flogging, beatings, imprisonment, and a lot of times, execution. These Early Christians did not let the fear of any of that keep them from confessing what they believed and sharing it with others. A person cannot believe and not tell anyone. It just does not work that way. A person cannot believe and fear that the people they want to be with will not be ok with it or make fun of them. It is better to believe and share it and face possible persecution, ridicule, and loss of friends; than it is to believe and not share it with anyone for fear of all of those things.
            We all experience fear, but it is what we do we are afraid that shows what kind of person we are to God. God does not tell us to not feel afraid, but he tells us not to act on it. He doesn’t want us to be ruled by it.

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