Fear has been said to be:
F alse
E vidence
A ppearing
R eal.
Some people deal with irrational fears. There is Porphyrophobia or the fear of the color purple.
There is chactophobia or the fear of hairy people.
There is chronetophobia or the fear of money (I don’t know many people with this fear).
There is even homilphobia or the fear of sermons (I know a lot of people with this fear)!
God does not want us living under irrational fears like that.
Others have more natural and rational type fears of:
Financial disaster
Hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes
Terrorism.
Terror is a word that is heard a lot in the news these days – we hear about the terrorist bombings in the Middle East and all the upheaval that is going on there.
Our lives here in the United States have been significantly affected by the events of September 11, 2001. America is at war and the enemy is terror!
God has been at war with terror for a very long time. Terror is not new. The Bible says that our adversary, the Devil, “goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.”
A lion roars to terrorize a herd and get them into confusion and on the run. Then he devours the weak stragglers. Terror is a terrible weapon.
Another word for terror is fear.
2 Tim 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Fear has many faces – sometimes it comes with a horrific, paralyzing shock. But more often it appears in more subtle forms like worry or excessive stress or an underlying sense of anxiety and dread.
Do you look into the future with hope and optimism? Or is there a subtle dread of what may happen next? Not just in the world as a whole– but in your individual life -- Are you being robbed of the joy in the present because of fear of tomorrow? Do worries and anxieties drain our strength and steal your peace?
It’s fear that carries with it an unhealthy element of torment --that makes life more stressful than it ought to be. There is a healthy, rational kind of fear that causes us to jump out of the way of a speeding truck and stay alive. But there are many fears that have a terribly negative influence on our quality of life and upon our effectiveness in life.
What can overcome your fears today?
Realize that God can give you the strength you need this day to overcome your fears. David said in Psalms 34:4, “I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.”
Relax in God’s unconditional love. First John 4:18 tells us, “there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
God loves you and I unconditionally! He has promised to watch over us and take care of us! Nothing is beyond his care. No situation is beyond His ability to reach out and give us his peace.
Rethink the situation. Get the proper perspective. The real foundation or tormenting fear is wrong thinking. When we are thinking right, we are keeping our focus on God and not our situation.
The opposite of fear is faith. Life is to be approached from a faith stance and not a fear stance. Corrie Ten Boom used to say that faith is:
F antastic
A dventure
I n
T rusting
H im.
Let’s trust God today with that situation we are in. And see Him do great and mighty things.
Devotional Prayer: Father, I ask that you would help me overcome my fears this day. I fear (you fill in the blank) _________. Help me to realize your power, relax in your love and rethink what is really happening. In your name I pray, Amen.
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1 comment:
Here's one for you: Triskadekaphobia...the fear of the number 13. I don't know anyone who has it but it has a name so someone must have at some point.
God is an awesome God. In Him I rest peacefully. Sam (Farina) asked several questions about fear Sunday night...thank God that he didn't name anything I'm afraid of. Spiders and snakes and tornados and floods...okay, maybe floods since I don't know how to swim...but I know that when I die, I get to spend eternity with God in heaven. No wondering about how long a job will last, if enough money will be there to pay the bills, if I'm raising my kids right, how they'll turn out, if I'm being a good husband to my wife and a good son to my mother. These are not worries but they are thoughts that I have from time to time...and I always resolve them by trusting in God and doing things His way. He gave me my job and I'll have it as long as He wants me too; He provided the job so I could pay the bills so if I follow His guidance on money, I will be all right; He provided me the Word to teach me how to raise my kids and be a good husband and a good son; and He provided me scripture that says if I raise them up right (kids that is), they will not wander from the path.
I tell folks all the time that all the learning you need is in the Bible. Agriculture, finance, parenting...it's all there in the Word. And the Word is faithful and trustworthy.
God is awesome! Love God and love people...heaven awaits for you!
Jon
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