My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. (Psalm 55:4, 5 ESV)
One of the areas that I have had to deal with in life is fear. For the most part I have been a very confidant person in life but there have been some events that have paralyzed me and made me weak and indecisive.
It's interesting - one of the most often used commands in the Bible is “Fear not.” God knows that it is a human emotion that we will have to deal with often in our lives.
In the New Testament - when Jesus came walking on the water - He tells Peter to get out of the boat and walk to Him. Do you think that Peter was a little fearful at that time? I think so.
FEAR IS THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY PEOPLE REFUSE TO GET OUT OF THE BOAT!
So… we need to hear this command all the time.
Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Black Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart would later say from prison that he didn’t need to fire a shot; all he had to do was to use fear to paralyze his victims. “Fear, the face of the unknown, was my weapon of choice, my weapon of intimidation.” His sinister presence and his threat of words was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard.
We also live in a changing world marked by terrorism, wars, and the constant threat of nuclear, biological or chemical extinction. But praise God, whatever fearful situation we may face; there are biblical immutables that are forever the same. We must fight fear by anchoring our lives in this truth: Our MASTER never changes, our MESSAGE never changes, and our MISSION never changes.
What is urgently needed today is an anointing of the Holy Spirit to relate our foundational unchanging gospel to the fearful changing world in which we live.
Look at some of the fears that people deal with...
Peladophobia: fear of baldness or fear of bald people.
Aerophobia: fear of drafts.
Porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple.
Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people.
Levophobia: fear of objects on the left side of the body.
Dextrophobia: fear of objects on the right side of the body.
Auroraphobia: fear of the northern lights.
Calyprophobia: fear of obscure meanings.
Thalassophobia: fear of being seated.
Stabisbasiphobia: fear of standing and walking.
Odontophobia: fear of teeth.
Graphophobia: fear of writing in public.
Phobophobia: fear of being afraid.
Here's a good definition of fear:
F alse
E evidence
A ppearing
R eal
There are 366 “Fear nots” in the Bible – one for every day in the year, including one for leap year! It seems… that there is a constant battle between fear and trust.
There is a healthy place for fear but I must also not allow it to overrule me. I want trust to be stronger quality instead of fear. I never want the “no” of fear to trump the “yes” of faith.
It's interesting - fear makes two appearances in the story of Jesus walking o the water.
First, the disciples are afraid because they do not understand that Jesus is with them in the storm.
Trust says jump. Fear says no. Peter jumped. And for a while – everything went smoothly.
Then fear struck a second time – He saw the wind. And this led to the next phase – HE BECAME FRIGHTENED.
His response to the wind and the storm was to give in to fear. He lost he sense of confidence that Jesus was master of the situation. He did not just sink in the water, but he sank in his own anxiety and worry.
I believe the reason God says “fear not” so often is that fear will sink us faster than anything else. Fear disrupts faith and becomes the biggest obstacles to trusting and obeying God.
What are the things that bring fear into your life on an on going basis? Trust and fear have been battling each other for your heart for a long time now. Eventually one or the other will win. Think about your life tonight.
WHAT IS JESUS CALLING YOU TO JUMPT TO HIM WITH RECKLESS ABANDON TODAY? Don't let your fear reign in your life but let faith rise up and take control.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7 NKJV)
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