Got Fear?

I don’t really enjoy getting needles from the doctor, whether it’s a regular check-up or a vaccination for traveling abroad, needles are not for me! A few years ago I was getting set to take a trip to Kenya. I was going with our youth group and we had planned a night to all go for our vaccinations together.

In my mind I thought this would be a good thing. We would all go together, get it done and have a memory together. But to be honest, I was afraid! I thought it about it for a couple days leading up to that night.

As the leader of the group, didn’t I have to be brave and put a brave face on?!

Now to put this fear into perspective, when I was a child, I had a traumatic experience when a nurse had to stab me multiple times in an attempt to draw blood.

But think about it. All the time I spent worrying about that night didn’t help me at all.

It wasn’t all that painful in the end! And even if it was going to be the most painful event of my life, worry about it wasn’t going to make it hurt any less.

Fear will cause you to make bad decisions and steal your joy!

So what can we learn from this?

That faith and fear have the same definition: That what we cannot see actually exists.

For example, image that you are walking down a path in the woods. You can’t see into the woods, you can only see the few steps in front of you. You start to think about what might be in the woods, the things you can’t see. Maybe there’s a bear in the dark!

You believe that what you cannot see actually exists.

Here is the difference:

Fear attracts the negative

Faith attracts the positive

We are set free from fear (Romans 8:15)

What are the things we can fear? Here is a list of 3 things; people, physical harm and God:

1. People (fear of man) – Proverbs 29:25 “Fear of man will prove to be a snare…”

In the fear of man we can fear:

Failure – What will people think if I make a mistake

Success – What if people think I am a fake or I can’t succeed each time

2. Physical Harm – Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, do not fear; I will help you.”

When we feel in danger, we ultimately fear that we or those we care about may be hurt. We don’t like the idea of pain, so we fear the cause.

3. God (the only good fear)

Of course this fear does not attract the negative! But still takes a belief in what you cannot see.

Proverbs 1:7 ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

It is good to care about what God thinks about you and live your life to please him.

All these fears – except Fear of God – will stop you from being the best you can be. To reach your full potential and your destiny, we must not allow fear to control our lives. We must move forward with confidence.

 

2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

What fears are you moving aside today in order to move forward to victory?