The first key to overcoming fear is to realize that you don't need to eliminate fear out of your life all together. Fear can be an asset to your life. We have to learn how to direct fear because fear can be a powerful tool. Fear is a lot like an electric current. If you handle an electric current properly it is a powerful tool and resource. However if you handle an electric current improperly it can do a lot of damage to you. How do we handle fear properly? The secret is in knowing what we should fear and what we should not fear. Fear helps us stay away from what is dangerous, but when fear gets out of control it is destructive and dangerous. What does the Bible say about fear? Over and over the Bible says to 'fear not.' Yet there is one type of fear that the Bible endorses, that is the fear of the Lord.
Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endures forever.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear in itself is bad and discouraged by God, but the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Notice the second part of this verse. A good understanding have all that do his commandments...Fear of the Lord leads to obedience. When I was growing up I knew better than to talk back to my dad. Why? Because I knew he did not allow that and I would get into trouble. It was that fear of disobeying him that kept my mouth shut. God wants us to obey him because we love him, but often it is the fear of wrong doing and reaping the trouble it brings that keeps us in line.
When we fear God we will obey His Word. We know that disobedience brings destruction and devastation.
Job 28:28 And he said to the human race, "The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."
Once again we see that the fear of the Lord brings wisdom, and to obey God, or shun evil is to gain understanding. I have heard people say, "I don't understand the fear of the Lord, what does that mean?" When you learn to obey God, and obey his commands we understand the fear of the Lord. When you understand that the fear of the Lord is learning to obey the Lord you will understand what the fear of the Lord means.
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Once again we see that when we do not follow instruction or listen to the wisdom of others we oppose the fear of the LORD.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
Nearly every time the fear of the Lord is mentioned in the Bible it is followed up with the clue of how to do it, obey His commands. If we do not obey the Lord it is because we do not fear the Lord as we should.
Now this is how it backfires on us. We fail to fear the Lord so we disobey his commands. With disobedience we soon learn that we reap what we sow. The worst thing about reaping what you sow is that when you have had enough, it hits you a few more times. It seems that it keeps coming back to haunt us and the more it does, the more we FEAR every day of our lives. And this is the unhealthy kind of fear. We wonder around every corner and every turn what new tragedy is going to over take us because we failed to fear the Lord and obey His Word.
If you will focus on the FEAR of the LORD and obedience to His Word you will not fear evil. You will not be afraid of your mistakes coming back to kick you in the rear as much when you walk in obedience to God.
Job had an fear that is common to most of us. We see our children and we are concerned they are not obeying God. Fear grips us that evil will over take them and bring destruction into their lives. This is a crippling fear. The worst fears are the things we fear will happen to those we love. Is there anything we can do? Yes. We can trust God and fear his Word. He may take your loved ones through the fire but all things are going to work together for good. For God has promised that you and your house will be saved. Have faith towards God and be obedient to him, He will not fail. What do I do when I fear for my children? If I worry then I also have disobeyed God and how is that going to help my kids at all. Many times I have fasted for my children and watched God turn their situations around. Humble yourself, fast and pray and leave the worry behind. Fear God and obey Him and He will show himself strong on your behalf. People often ask me how long should I fast and pray? I usually do so until I see it turn around. I had one child that was going astray. When I began my fast I thought to myself, this fast might last forever, because it seemed unlikely he would turn around. And yet six months later he did just that, he turned around 180 degrees and God restored his life. Fast until you no longer need to fast, get serious with God and the enemy will have no choice but to flee.
At the end of the day fear loses it hold on you when you focus on the fear of the Lord. When I concentrate all my effort on obedience to God's Word it takes my focus off of those fears of the enemy that comes in the night. Why do we fear the enemy? Does the Bible say to fear evil? No. The Bible says to fear God. As much as you fear what terrors could come at you through the night realize that disobedience to God will bring far greater destruction than anything the enemy could do to you.
If we would Fear God and obey the Word of God we wouldn't be so afraid of everything else coming our way. God is a shelter around those who fear him.
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