Breaking Free From Fear

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I heard about this Sunday morning church service. It was going just fine. All of a sudden, there was a flash of lightning. When the smoke cleared, Satan himself appeared behind the pulpit. People panicked. They ran out of the building as fast as they could. Satan just stood there with glee.

But suddenly, his mood changed when he noticed a woman sitting in the front row just as calm as can be

He said, Lady do you know who I am?”
She said “I sure do”
He said, “Aren’t you afraid of me?”
She said “No I’m not.”

He said “Why not?”

She said “Why should I be? For 30 years I’ve been married to your brother!”

It’s good to be able to look adversity in the face without fear. The Bible tells us many times, “Do not fear.” In fact, according to Matthew 28, one of the first things Jesus says after rising from the dead is “Don’t be afraid.”

The problem is that there are a lot of things to be afraid of. Someone says “I’ve got five tests coming up this week at school, and I’m not ready. I’m afraid! If I don’t get good grades, I won’t be able to go to Door County this spring with Pastor Marc and the youth group this spring. That would be terrible!”

Or someone says “I’ve got a lump in my breast. The doctor wants to do a biopsy. I’m afraid. What if it’s cancer? What if I need chemotherapy? What if I lose my hair? What if the doctors can’t get it under control?”

And right now, lots of people are saying “I’ve already lost most of my pension money, and now it looks like I might lose my job, I’m afraid! I’m getting too old to go back out there and learn how to do another job! What am I going to do?”

The good news is that you don’t have to let fear get the best of you. Psalm 34:4 says that “I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears.” And Psalm 46:2 says we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” God says you can break free from your fears! God says you can beat this thing!

I want to talk about how fear holds us back from the life God wants us to live. Then we’re going to look at Joshua chapter one to see what God told Joshua about not being afraid.

But first, I need to mention that there are two kinds of fear in the Bible. The first kind of fear is a good fear. Deuteronomy 6:13 says “Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.” The Hebrew word for fear literally means “to honor the Lord with trembling.” We need to respect the fact that God is the all-powerful Creator of the heavens and the earth. We need to have such a holy fear of God that it affects the way we live our lives.

Fearing God means speaking His name with respect. But more often than not, we use His name as an expression of surprise. Someone says "I just caught a ten pound fish! O my God!" When you say “O my God, or OMG, it’s a sign that you don’t fear God the way you should.

Or someone says “Uh, I just ripped a hole in my slacks. My God.” When we use the name of God as an expression of disgust, it shows a lack of respect. We need to fear the Lord. We need to reclaim a holy respect for the name of God.

So the first kind of fear in the Bible is a fear that is commanded. The second kind of fear is a fear that is forbidden. Isaiah 41:10 says “do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” God says “You don’t have to be afraid ... next page »