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Fear Not!
Lesson Six

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PAUSE this video and read Chapter Six of your textbook: Do Not Be Afraid! Be sure to pray the prayer at the end of the chapter.

Psalm 91 is a great psalm of instruction and comfort in times of fear. You should already be very familiar with it through the assignment you have practiced.

It is important to note that the promises of the Bible, specifically those in Psalm 91, are for those who trust in God and follow Him. If we are willfully walking in our own ways, we have no right to claim the promises. That does not mean God will not look after us and protect us to some degree. The children of Israel were provided for and protected as they wandered in the wilderness, but they missed out on God’s best for their lives and on all they could have experienced. God loves us, even when we are breaking His heart through our rebellion. If God removed His protection entirely from us, the devil would overwhelm us with terror and torment even though he could not steal our salvation.

I want to emphasize what was in your book: this is not a passive faith, but an active one. We must choose to step out in faith despite the emotion of fear. We must choose to believe and obey the Word of God when our natural eyes tell us it is foolishness or false. Faith is never passive. It must do something, or it dies. This is what the Book of James instructs us.

I like the line where he says we must come to a place where we are not afraid of difficulty. We like comfort, God searches for character and character is only proven in adversity. Sometimes we can become afraid of being afraid! I know. I have been there two or three times, and I began to doubt my sanity because of the fear I felt. Because that was such a horrible place for me to be, I was tempted to fear feeling that fear again! Talk about compounding fear!

I think we all face the temptation of wondering why bad things happen to those around us - even Christians - and doubting the goodness of God. Christians get cancer - some are healed, some die. Christians get in car accidents. Christians are crime victims. What kind of protection do we get?

I am reminded of a scene in C.S. Lewis’ The Horse And His Boy where Aslan tells Aravis that no one is ever told anyone’s story but their own.

We have a Bible example of this in John 21:21-23 [READ]. Jesus told Peter what was going to happen to him, and Peter wondered what would happen to John. Jesus basically replied, “That’s none of your business.”

We don’t know the full story about what God is doing in someone else’s life. We are not in a position to judge. We cannot use what appears to be God’s failure in protecting or helping someone else to be the standard by which we judge whether God is for us or against us. We have to be willing to take the Word of God alone, trusting that God is good and that He knows what He is doing.

Let’s be honest. We don’t even know fully what God is doing in our own lives. Sometimes bad things happen. That doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us or that He isn’t in control. The Cross certainly did not look like a very positive thing in the life of Jesus…until we discovered the end of the story. That is where faith comes in. We need to believe God is there, working out His best. When we see the end of our story… we will be excited about what God accomplished!

Our hope and faith must be in the Word of God. We must cling to Him. We cannot trust what our eyes tell us. The devil wants to mock us by saying, “Look what happened to them - that’s going to happen to you too!” We need the confidence that even if it does happen, God will give us the grace to handle it at the time. The devil wants us to sin by worrying and being fearful of things that might happen. He knows God does not give us grace to handle things that haven’t happened! So if he can move us in the “what if” field, we are moving out of the peace and rest of God. Remember, Jesus said, “ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matt. 6:34, NIV or as The Message Bible words it: “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Don’t forget Jesus said this, knowing full well that the horrors of the Cross and separation from the Father lay ahead.

Assignment

1. Memorize Matt. 6:25-34.

2. Analyze Matt. 6:25-34 [Use the Chapter Analyze method].

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