Encouragement
Facing Fear
4I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. -Psalm 34:4 (AMP)
Fear can lock you down in an instant. It can rob you of the very breath you breathe. It can send your pulse racing and your mind trying to sort through a million scenarios in an instant. Fear can motivate you to do things you would never do in a normal circumstance. Fear can cause you to make a split second decision that could change your life forever. Fear can sneak up on you or eat away, moment by moment, any hope or peace that you may have.
The result that fear produces, most of the time, is necessity. You see a snake; you probably feel the necessity to run. If someone is breaking into your home, you will take the necessary measures to protect yourself and your family. Fear would be the driving force behind appointments with a barrage of medical specialists, if your physician diagnosed you with a rare, terminal illness.
Fear is not discriminating. It makes no distinction between race, religion, ethnicity, class, income level, city or even neighborhood. It does not recognize power, position or possessions. Wealth cannot purchase your freedom from fear and poverty does not lack enough to keep it away. Like an all-consuming fire, left to burn out of control, it devours whomever or whatever is in its path.
Fear is a belief of something. I have heard people say that it is the opposite of faith, or even faith in reverse. But I believe that for a lot of people, fear is faith. They have faith that whatever it is that they fear is going to happen. Christians are not oblivious to this.
Fear covers a full spectrum, from very tiny details, to life altering decisions. Only you know where your fear weighs in on that scale.
You may be afraid of what someone may say about you. You may be afraid of not being able to pay the bills. You may be afraid of losing someone that you love, be it a friend or a spouse. You may be afraid of life, death or everything in between. We live in a world of labeled “phobias” and the list grows daily.
Regardless of where you fall on that list or if you even consider your fear a phobia, it is very real to you. You may even be hesitant of sharing your fear with someone because you are afraid of how they will respond or perceive you.
Fear is exhausting. Fear will rob you of peace. It will wear you down with what if’s and planned avoidance tactics and possibly never produce what it is promising to. Fear will make you lose your focus. And that is the primary purpose of the devil.
What is the greatest fear that you have? And what is the worst possible outcome of that fear that consumes you? Now, can you take that fear, that worst possible outcome and lay it before the Lord?
Are you sometimes afraid, that even as a Christian, maybe the Lord won’t hear you? Maybe you are not good enough for Him to answer your prayers? You think that you have to get this or that straight before you can ask anything of the Lord? It’s a lie!
The key component here is direction. Where is fear driving you? Is necessity driving you to keep doing things your way, trying to figure it out for yourself, running from person to person, wasting time and trying every solution to no avail? Or is it driving you to reverently worship and fear Him?
Godly fear should lead you to Him as your necessity. To paraphrase David’s cry here in today’s Scripture:
“God, where are You? I need You! You have to take care of this because I can’t! You said You wouldn’t leave me. You can’t lie! God, I really think it’s necessary that You deal with this”.
Somehow, I can see this entire scene taking place. I can relate. In my desperation at times I have exhausted every possible resource in trying to accomplish something to deliver myself from a particular fear. In the end, I am nothing more than ragged, tired and right where I needed to be to begin with: crying out to the Lord.
My necessity should motivate me, to require Him, to deliver me from all of my fears. Why, because a life without Him, a life without Jesus will leave you without peace now and in the life to come.
23The reverent, worshipful fear of the Lord leads to life, and he who has it rests satisfied; he cannot be visited with [actual] evil. –Proverbs 19:23
Whatever your fear may be, face it today, by turning to the Lord. Reverence (respect, admire, be devoted to) and worship God, by acknowledging only He is able to deliver you. Seek Him out, ask for Him, and require Him by necessity because His Word tells you to. Then rest satisfied, knowing that God cannot lie. He hears you and if you are willing to put your faith in Him, He will deliver you from all of your fears.
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