Faith not Fear

Fear...What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of fear? What is the thing that you fear the most? Take a moment and think about it......Most people (Christians) will saying weather they are going to heaven or hell is there biggest fear. But why, Why do we fear at all?

Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by an impending pain, evil, danger, etc. (Random House College Dictionary)


Psalm 23: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


2 Chronicles 20:17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. If the Lord did not give us a spirit of fear, the why do we have it....

Fear almost comes naturally to us. The enemy loves fear. It is something the he knows he can use against us. We have let fear control our lives. We have let it come into our homes.... (IE)telling the children to be safe, and don't talk to strangers. Yes these things are good, and children do need to know right from wrong, but what we need to teach is faith not fear. Pray with them and let them know that we need to continually serve God and trust in him. Teach them that the Lord will keep us safe as long as we are in the center of Gods will. Everything happens for a reason and God makes no mistakes. Marriages have been destroyed because of fear, fear of infidelity. It drives us insane. It makes us worry, stressed and then the next thing you know, we can't seem to have a day with an argument. We have let fear into our churches. People ask "Why is the church not growing? Oh, something must be wrong with the Pastor..." WRONG! Something must be wrong with us! And it is....We have fear, fear of embarrassment, and rejection. You may be sitting in a service and the Lord speaks to you about a ministry of some sort, or a fundraiser, an outreach program, a saint in the church that may be in need....Do you do something about it? Most likely the answer was "No...but...." Why? Why did we not do what the Lord had laid upon our heart?....because...."Well I don't know if that was the Lord speaking to me or my flesh" blah blah blah...honey let me help you out...IT WAS THE LORD!!!!......The devil is not going to tell you to start a jail ministry, raise money for the youth to go to Rally's and conferences, raise money for missionaries, or take a saint out for lunch because they are lonely. He (satan) wants you to sit at home and watch reruns of "Do Nothing". He gets no glory out of you doing the work of the Lord, but it does put a smile on his face when he watches as a child of God sits on the pew and does nothing. The Lord lays these things on our hearts for a reason.....Or you may even say..... "Well I can't do that I will leave that up to the Pastor or the youth leaders"....God laid it on your heart so obviously He is wanting you to do something. Now don't think for one second that I have always done what God has asked me to do....I have been one of the ones that has said, I am not qualified for that, or what if I invite them to church and they so no......It is fear, we all have it but we have to overcome it. I remember a few months ago I was in a Goodwill with 3 others ladies. One of them a pastors wife and another a missionaries wife. Wonderful examples of women of God. I had sorta drifted off to search the store myself. I found myself at the back of the store looking at books, which I never do. As I stood there, I felt as though someone was watching me. I glanced over and there was a lady that was walking toward me and just staring. I continued to look through the books. She then came and stood beside me, I could feel her spirit pulling at me, something told me that she wanted to talk. (I say something, because like you, I felt like it was my flesh talking). She finally spoke and said "hello" and I spoke back. I then turned and made my way back to the front of the store. After that, I was no longer comfortable. The Lord had basically just slapped me. I should have talked to her. I could have helped her....but I thought to myself, I am nobody. If this lady has a need, Lord you need to send her to another one of the ladies from the church, they are more qualified then me. I felt awful, so I started praying and asking God for forgiveness. I had not obeyed Him. I prayed and asked the Lord to lead her back my way, or help her to find someone to talk to. No more then 5 minutes after I had said that prayer, I looked up and saw her talking to the missionaries wife that was also there. I felt relief. Although it wasn't me, she found someone that could help, and God found someone He could use. (If you won't let Him use you, He will find a replacement) Now there was no prayer meeting, or laying on of hands....All she needed was someone to talk to. She needed some guidance and direction and didn't know where else to turn. God is not only going to use us at an altar, or a prayer meeting....He will use us anywhere. But we can't have fear. It can and will destroy our ministry if we let it. We have to learn to put our trust in the Lord. God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. Isaiah 43 says "But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." God makes no mistakes. He did not call and redeem the wrong person. We are His and He will not forsake us. When He called us, He knew exactly what he was doing and we have to trust that. Our prayer should be, that we trust Him and that we may be more sensitive to His will. You can't go wrong as long as you are in the center of His will.