NEWSLETTER 068 MESSAGE

Message: Fear Strikes, Faith Answers

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.” Ps. 56:3-4

We all face times of fear. It’s thin bony hands pull at our hearts. We can become almost paralyzed. Sometimes even getting out of bed to confront another day can be overwhelming. We loose all desire to be with people, accomplish our goals, and/or take care of daily necessities. Fear can play on many things both great and small.

Those who have not faced fear to that extend may minimize it’s effect on others. Or they may mock someone’s fear in an area in which they have no fear. A person who has no fear of snakes can’t understand why others do. But he, perhaps, has a fear in an area that others do not. It seems so small to the one who is not afraid and so large to the one who is afraid; yet, it is the same thing viewed from different perspectives.

The cause of the fear is usually not as important as how the emotion of fear is handled. It can destroy us, or it can build us. We know fear does not come from God, it comes to torment. [I am not talking about a healthy fear such as a fear of putting your hand on a hot stove burner.] Fear seeks to destroy our lives. It drives us to inaction and depression. It can cause the actual thing we fear to happen when it might not have happened!

Fear can be a tool to being to light hidden defects in our character. For example, if I fear losing my job - even though I am a good worker - it is because I am looking to my employer as my provider. If I really saw God as my Provider, fear could not grip me because I know there is nothing that can effect God’s ability to provide. My employer is simply God's current instrument to bring His provision into my life. God could just as well select another one.

So fear - when it gets a hold - shows us areas of our life where faith is not operating. Fear and faith cannot co-exist. The one will destroy the other.

How do we break the chains of fear in our lives? We must have faith in God’s perfect love. We can trust God. He cares for us. Situations may hurt, but nothing can ever ultimately harm us if we will walk with God. Confidence, trust, faith. Easy to say, but how do we walk in it?

In times of fear, how to we show or release our faith? The sacrifice of praise. We do not feel like giving God praise. We feel like curling up in a corner and dying. Nevertheless, we open our mouths and choose to praise God. We choose to worship. We choose to mediate on the greatness and care of God [Psalm 23 is a must!]. We read Scripture - especially the Psalms. We memorize Scriptures which show how God is the answer to that fear. For example, if death is our fear, we memorize Scripture on how Christ defeated death and on how we have eternal life. Every time the fear-laced thought attacks, we response with praise. The love of God will flow through our heats and fear will flee. I am not saying it is an easy or quick process. Wars are not usually won in a day. However, if we will stand fast in faith, the fear - no matter how great - can and will be steadily driven back until it no longer exists.

Announcements

Our report on husbands is one of the highest entry pages on our site. If you haven’t read it yet you can at The Role Of A Husband. In case the wives were feeling left out, this month I have added a new report on The Role Of A Wife. I had my wife read this report before I posted it to make sure I wasn’t too far off the mark!

In our Matthew blog we are working on Chapter 3. Check it out and bookmark it at Matthew Blog. Don’t forget that you can still access any of the completed blogs for research or encouragement. There really is “tons” of information on the site and it grows practically every day. You can subscribe to the RSS feed to keep up-dated on changes/additions.

While you are checking things out, don’t forget to see if a Joshua Club License is for you.

God bless you,
Glenn Davis
Free Bible Study Lessons

Joshua Club