Fear Not

Today, with so much fear in the world that touches our lives, I am

 nudged to share a chapter out of my Book, "Heaven Bound: A

 Devotional", written during a time when fear was on a relentless

 rampage with me. 

 

At the end of the chapter, you will find "Points to Ponder" with

 questions for you to mediate on regarding the chapter. This Book is

 available from Barnes and Noble or Amazon.  

I hope you are blessed reading chapter 9 of "Heaven Bound"

Fear Not

The Holy One calls to me this morning. Fear has come calling

and has been tormenting me through the watches of the night.

The world news is providing a very effective backdrop of evidence

that evil is alive and well on planet Earth. Personal trials close to

home and in the lives of loved ones remind me that the war

 producing the trials is everywhere.

As Christians, we are told over and over to not fear. Philippians

4:4 is one such command: “Do not be anxious about anything but

in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present

 your requests to God and the peace of God which transcends all

 understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ

 Jesus.”

The Holy One calls, and I answer out of a fitful wrestle with the

dark lord of fear. I feel like a lone sailor frantically typing out an

 SOS as waves are about to capsize my boat.

The conscious comfort of His presence and authority offers a

deep relief to my heart and mind. The Holy One reminds me how I

am like the disciples during one furious storm on the lake they were

crossing as Jesus was asleep in the boat. Matthew 8:25 says, “The

disciples went and woke Him saying, ‘Lord, save us!’ We are

going to drown.”

The Spirit speaks to me this morning like Jesus did to His disciples

that day, “You of little faith, why are you afraid?” When Holiness

puts it that way, the fear and tension melts away and the processing

can begin.

“Well,” I hesitate as my mind tries to explain my faithless

thoughts to the only One who can correct them. But before I pick

more words to justify the wretched sin, He gently reminds me of

what I already know, “Fear and faith cannot cohabitate. One

 cancels out the other. The fear you have is sin, not just an

 emotional response to the threats you hear in your mind.”

His words confirm the lessons of late regarding the need for

daily repentance and even a humbling foot washing by the Lord to

clean off the dust of the fallen world that clings to my feet.

Job was a man who experienced the deepest of trials during a

season in the permissive will of God. Satan accused him of being a

spoiled child who would curse God if his blessings were taken

 away.

The Lord’s confidence in the man was challenged by the enemy of

Holiness, and Job was put to the test while Satan brought blow after

blow of hard adversity against him.

The account of Job holds many important lessons regarding

the sovereignty of God: His permissive will, His boundaries and

 protection, His control over the adversary, and His ultimate love

 and relationship with Job, the man.

The Holy One draws me back to this account to make an interesting

point regarding fear. As I read the beginning of Job’s life of

trials, Job 3:25 leaps out as a clue to the rest of his recorded

 suffering.

“What I feared has come upon me, what I dreaded has

 happened to me.”

Could it be that Satan’s attack followed a direct line of Job’s fears

right into his life and being? Could it be that our fears provide the

open door of access for the enemy of our soul to enter and bring the

trials we experience?  If that is so, it is to our great advantage to do

 as the Lord commands and “fear not.”

The enemy of our souls is an ancient foe who is aware of our sin

nature, the fall, and the fears it brings to the hearts of men. He is the

great deceiver, so if he can keep us trying in our flesh to overcome

fear, or worse yet succumb to it, then evil triumphs.

The Holy One reminds me that not only is fear a powerful

emotion, it is also sin. “You cannot get rid of fear just in the facing

 of it. Fear, like any other sin, requires repentance.” It is important

 and most interesting to get down to identifying fear as the sin that it

 is.

I always equate sin with a strong emotion that has a flesh perk at

the end, but that is not so with fear. Fear erodes all peace,

 confidence, and assurance of good things coming to pass. Fear

 leaves me shaking and quaking and waiting for the next shoe to

 drop. Fear seems to be the one sin that has no flesh appeal, and I

 wonder, if that is so, then why do we fail to acknowledge or treat it

 as sin?

Society has alternative ways to beat the cycle of fear bondage,

otherwise known as anxiety, rather than take the sin to the Lord for

removal. Doctors prescribe drugs, therapists suggest other assorted

escape mechanisms, but nothing man can offer really cures the

problem.

The Holy One again asks, “Why are you afraid?” I noticed that

He did not ask, “What are you afraid of?” The why and not the what

is the key. There can be an endless list of "whats" to the fear issue,

 but the answer to why is simple: somewhere in the assessment of

 the situation I face and wrestle, the storm got the better of me. I

 failed to remember that the One who formed the clouds, the winds

 and the rains, is with me in the boat.

He gently repeats His question, “Why are you afraid?” But then

He goes on to cut through the fear, “For I am always with you.” 

The sense and power of His presence fills the room and my soul.

 “Fear not” is the command, and clearly, I understand He is the

 reason I can obey it.

The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Points To Ponder:

1. How do you define fear? Does it register to you as

being sin? Or does it seem more like wisdom. Reread

Philippians 4:4. Since fear is a God-given emotion,

why do you suppose it is then counted as sin? How

much does fear play a part in your life and decisions?

Are you willing to confess fear as sin in order to get

rid of it?

2. Look up Matthew 8:23–27 for your own encouragement.

Do you think to thank the Lord for being in

your boat and for His power to save you from the

storms in life? Can you recall a situation like the disciples?

faced in their storm where the Lord rescued you?

Will you offer a prayer of praise to Him now? If you

are in a storm at the moment, will you pray like the

disciples did and ask Him to save you?

3. Dealing with our sin weakness is part of being saved,

as one definition of being saved is to “be healed or

delivered out of a bad place.” The Lord is calling us

into a relationship whereby we talk to Him and relate

to Him. Healing is part of the privilege of relationship.

Confessing sin is the first step in deliverance and

ultimate healing. Does it occur to you that in your

weakness, God says He will be your strength?

4. Does this promise give you hope? Tell the Lord how

you feel. The Bible has many verses that address fear and

being afraid. Most begin with “Do not.” Look up

Isaiah 35:4. Then read Psalm 91. Each of these speak 

the command “Do not,” but each offers reasons. 

List some of the reasons we are commanded to not fear.

5. Read Matthew 28:18–20. Think about why He

would tell us in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore of all

the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe

all things I have commanded you and lo I am with

you always, even to the ends of the earth.” Do you

consider yourself as a strategic part of His plan for

the salvation of others? Are you willing to do your

strategic part? What if your strategic part is just to be

willing to allow Him to work through your life? Will

you ask Him to use you?