Facing Our Fear

Scripture: Psalm 56:3, Isaiah 40:28, Acts 15:18, Matthew 6:8, John 21:17, Philippians 1:12, Romans 8:28, Daniel 2:21-22, II Timothy 1:7

1. We have fear of the unknown

A. Trust the fact that God is omniscient

“Did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurs to God?”

2. We have fear of the uncontrollable

A. Trust the fact that God is omnipotent

“Faith- Forsaking All I Trust Him”

God is omnipresent and He will never leave us nor forsake us.

Three Voices

If we listen carefully to those around us, we will learn to distinguish three voices, or influences, which direct the thinking, attitudes and actions of us all. We can hear them at our work, in our homes, and in the quietness of our moments alone.

Fear (the first voice) disguises itself as “being safe,” as “practical,” “conservative,” “cautious,” or “reasonable.” Look for the motive behind the disguise.

Fear is a demanding master, never able to be satisfied. It disdains any voice but its own.

Fantasy (the second voice) disguises itself as “visionary,” as “progressive,” “imaginative,” or “creative.” Look for the motive behind the disguise.

Fantasy is a demanding master, never able to be satisfied. It, too, disdains any voice but its own. Both of these voices claim to be spiritual and wise. But both of these voices reveal an obsession with personal agendas. Both demand that all others see things from their perspective. Both deny that God may have a desirable goal beyond their view.

Faith is the third voice.

Faith reminds us that this is God’s world, that He is always with us, that He works with us and in spite of us, and that He will complete the wonderful work He began in spite of what it may look like to us today!

Faith lives based on what God has done and said.

And Faith lives in trust that God does break into our situations with power and resources and vision and peace beyond what we can presently imagine! All three voices will call to you today.

Only Faith offers life. May we govern our personal decisions through the voice of Faith.

Psalms 119:113-120

“My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.” (v. 120)

There is not enough of the “fear of the Lord” nowadays, even among Christians. When we fear Him, we will respect Him, and, in fact, fear is a form of respect. To respect Him is to honor Him, and to honor Him is to obey him. Though the Christian need not fear the judgment of God as far as being condemned to an eternal hell is concerned, we need to fear His chastisement, which He will mete out as He sees the need. Whether this word “judgments” refers to His Word, as a synonym, or whether it refers to the judgments of God, literally, we do not know for sure. The word “judgments” is used in this particular psalm, beginning in v. 7, some sixteen times as a synonym for the Word of God. There are other times that it uses this word that are not too clear as to which they refer. At any rate, we need to fear God because of His judgments!

Fear is a deterrent to sin. It is the reason we spank our children, to cause pain, which they learn to fear, and thereby learn to do right. God sometimes must “spank” us, and teach us to fear so that we will be afraid to disobey Him, but if we do not fear Him, we will not often obey Him. The psalmist learned obedience by knowing God, and he knew that God put “away the wicked like dross” (v. 119). David feared so much in that he trembled at the thought of the awesome power of God, and of His judgments. David won the respect of the people, and the fear of the Philistines, when he “proved himself” faithful in the incident with Goliath, and many times thereafter when he won battles against the enemies of God. Here though, it is his turn to fear. David knew fear as all brave men do; it is not a shame to be fearful but the shame comes when we allow the fear to cause us to act contrary to the will of the Lord. I see no shame in trembling before God either, nor, at times, before men, if we still go on with the confidence that God will give us the victory. Perhaps it is the fear of the Lord that won David the honor of being a “man after God’s own heart.”