Monday, April 16, 2012

4 Ways To Be Fearless

Fear has two meanings.

The first one we usually think of is an insecurity. A worry about something or someone. This fear has to do with not knowing what the future holds and expecting, at least in part, that things are going to turn out disastrously.

The second type of fear is the fear that we are to have towards God. "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." Remember that we can't throw out this part of the Bible just because we want a God who doesn't care if we sin. This is not the fear I want to talk about today, but I feel it's fitting to address this before moving on.



The first type of fear is the type that Christians are commanded in scripture not to have.

Deuteronomy 31 - Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. 

1 Chronicles 28 - Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all your work is finished.


Psalm 27 - The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?


Isaiah 41 - For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.




Notice that every time God tells us not to fear, there's a reason. There's a promise. These are the types of promises God has for us:

Joshua 1 - Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you ... No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

Jeremiah 29 - For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Matthew 11 - Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Philippians 4 - And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 - No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.


When we're walking in fear we're choosing not to remember and trust in the promises of God. Worry means we're not trusting in God. Let me put it this way, If we hold onto our fear, we're deciding that God either can't take care of us, or is choosing not to.

Jesus said, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 


Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 


Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 


And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 


If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 


So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."


Satan wants us to focus on our past failures and project them as fears. This usually sounds like this: "I can't do that because my vocal range is too small. This one time I was singing in front of people and my voice cracked at the high note in the song. I'm not the right person for the job." 

Knowing the promises of God for you would drive out fear like this, "Yes, I can do that. I've made mistakes in the past but I know that God is for me and that I can do all things because Jesus is giving me strength. Regardless of if I sound perfect or not God will use me to reach out to people, and God deserves my best in this opportunity."

Notice that the past mistakes had no power over the person who was confident in God. When we talk about our mistakes instead of what God did through us we're giving the devil praise for distracting ourselves from our calling.

You're not called to sing well. The calling is to sing well so that God can be glorified.

Singing is just one example. This applies to everything. Wether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. (1st Corinthians 10:31)


So how do you combat a spirit of fear?

2 Timothy 1:7 - God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind

1) Recognize that the fear you have is not from God. You don't deserve to be fearful. You can't impress God with how big your problem is. You can't convince Him to let you fear. That spirit of fear is rooted in Satan's plan. You need to get it out of your life!

2) Take hold of the power that God has given to you. You have the grace of the Holy Spirit that enables you to boldly (meaning without fear) accomplish everything that God has for you. You can stare the enemy in the face because you were given the power to stand firm. Read Ephesians 6 for a full description of this power to stand.

3) Walk in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. A soft answer turns away wrath. Love your enemies and pray for those you spitefully use you. Responding with love and generosity in a situation where there's anger or lack can turn your fear into joy.

4) Use your sound mind. Don't be irrational. The sensible thing to do when the enemy of your soul is grossly outnumbered and out gunned, has already been defeated by the power of the cross, and is just shouting lies at you is to ignore the lies, and focus on the God that has already provided for all of the needs of your spirit, soul, and body. God has been faithful and He will continue to be faithful. Don't be irrational and think you have to fix everything yourself.

3 comments:

  1. Satan wants us to focus on our past failures and project them as fears.

    That is the sentence that grabbed me but the whole post is encouraging.

    Thanks Peter!

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  2. This is a great post. Fear is something I have struggled with in many forms. That verse about the lilies in the field is not particularly comforting: I've seen a few lilies wiped out. But I know that it is larger than a metaphor.

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  3. Thanks for this it's encourages me not to be afraid to the old woman bully in our company work. Thank you Peter!

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Thanks so much for the feedback!!

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