GOD WILL LEAD US FROM FEAR TO FAITH WHEN WE TRUST IN HIM

__________________________________________________

“The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”– Oswald Chambers –

Fear is everything that God is not. Fear goes against every promise of God. Fear, at its very core, is evil. Faith is the antithesis of fear. With faith, we trust God to protect us from all evil. We rely on Him to deal with our fearful situations. Without faith, we look to ourselves and realize our inherent inability to save our own selves.

The familiar acronym for fear is “False Expectations Appearing Real”. We tend to assess situations and determine whether they are more than we can handle. Perhaps they are… or perhaps they are not. Yet we are often inclined to think of the absolute worst that could happen… and conclude that the situation before us will last forever. We believe our fears. Our minds run with these inaccurate assessments and our emotions follow.

How, then, are we to conquer our fears?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” – 2 Timothy 1:7

God gives us sound minds to overcome our fears. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can discern situations wisely, rationally and accurately. Rather than jumping to irrational conclusions, we proceed with calm reason and a deep, abiding trust in our Protector.

We view fearful situations as temporary… “This too shall pass”. We look to our all-powerful God to help us contend with the circumstances we are facing. We may not be up to the task, but He is. Our faith looks to the Ever-Faithful One and our fears subside.

“I’m not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me – he’s got judo I never heard of. But he can’t handle the One to whom I’m joined; he can’t handle the One to whom I’m united; he can’t handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature.” – A.W. Tozer

Perhaps a better acronym for fear is “Fight the Enemy And Resist”. If fear is in fact evil, then we know that its source is the enemy. We are instructed to resist the enemy and he will flee from us (James 4:7).

How did Jesus resist the enemy? He used the spiritual weapon of Scripture. In the wilderness, Satan twisted God’s Word to try to trap Jesus, as he did in the Garden of Eden with Eve. Jesus countered the enemy’s lies with the true words of Scripture. We can model Jesus and use God’s Word to battle the lies and deceits of the evil one that cause us to fear.

The Bible is rich with God’s promises. We can search out the ones appropriate to our fearful times and memorize them. As we write them on our hearts, they become a part of us. We come to recognize God’s loving hand guiding and protecting us.

There is power in the spoken Word. When our fears overwhelm us, we speak aloud these promises of God. Our attention turns away from our fears and toward the One who will help us overcome. Our faith is renewed as we look to our all-powerful Lord. For He has triumphed over all evil. As we abide in Him, we can defeat evil and conquer fear in our lives.

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” – Isaiah 43:2

Our deep waters may seem to sweep over us, yet we are tied to the Rock. Our Lord is ever with us. He is our anchor. He will safeguard us and rescue us. He will help us take control of our fearful situations. Our fears are washed away as we hold fast to Him.

We are one with Christ. As He is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). We can walk by faith because we are brave in Him. We have His courage, His strength, His conquering Spirit within us. Our reverent fear of God dissipates all fear of evil. In Him and Him alone, we can conquer all our fears.