Judges Series #12 Life Cycles
“Understanding and Handling Fear” Pt 3 (Trust More Fearless)
Review
In our study of Judges, we have discovered that God powerfully enlists the most unlikely to accomplish the impossible, even the fearful and timid. Some of the words associated with fear.
The Bible translates several related words -- trembling, shaking, shuddering, or cringing, fear, honor, fearful, terror, awe, worship, disheartened, dismayed, be in dread, reverence, or respect, disturb, terrify, cowardice, timid.”
Fear is a tangible involuntary reaction to a perceived or actual threat to my well-being that is either present or potential that requires some sort of intentional response.
Fear is a physiological reaction triggered by actual events or circumstances that threaten my well-being i.e. Earthquake, dangerous environment, rejection. Threats to our well-being come from all directions in all levels of intensity.
Here is just a brief summary of threats in the Bible that triggered feelings of fear.
Fear of destruction, death, and conflict.
Fear of bodily harm.
Fear of uncomfortable circumstances.
Fear of loss
Fear of rejection, ridicule, retaliation or retribution.
Fear of the unknown
Fear of hurting others
Fear of people
Fear of false accusations
Fear of sudden fear (Prov 3:25)
Fear of conspiracy (Isa 8:12)
In addition to real life threats, fear can be triggered by a perceived threat (exists only in my thoughts) to my well-being.
Fear that I have cancer
Fear something will happen to my family
Fear of losing my job
Fear of getting sick
It is a waste of emotional energy to obsess on possible threats. We need to focus our energy to deal with what IS not to waste energy on what might be. These perceptions trigger an emotion anywhere from a slight uneasy feeling to a full-blown incapacitating phobia.
As I mentioned previously, our instant connection to events and threats from around the world by way of media connection only fills our mind with a mountain of previously unimagined danger. New enemies, new diseases, new wars, new tragedies, new conspiracies, new bubble bursts, global warming, global freezing, polluted water, governmental threats to our freedom all displayed before us in living color or dying color in some cases. Such emotions we call fear, anxiety, stress and worry require tremendous amounts of energy. God designed us to physiologically react to threatening situations. Fear readies us for action against a threat.
I mentioned previously that fear and trust are incompatible. I need to qualify that statement.
The feeling of fear is involuntary. My system automatically reacts to a threat to my well-being or to the well-being of loved ones. That adrenaline rush prepares me to act on the threat. There are any numbers of actions resulting from fear. It is the fear related to imagined or future threats that are incompatible with trust/ faith. God specifically instructs not to fear what might happen tomorrow for today has enough problems of its own. Threatening situations WILL materialize all through our life. How we respond determines whether we grow in faith or grovel in fear.
The first thing to do is to analyze the fear-triggering event.
Ask some pertinent questions.
Is the threat real or imagined?
Is the treat happening in the present or am I worried about some future possibility?
What are the chances of this calamity happening to me?
Is there anything I can do about it?
If I can’t do anything about a situation, worry and fear is not going do anything either.
Real threats require specific action. Imagined threats require specific thinking and perspective change.
The Second step is to consider an intentional response.
I think this is what Scripture means when it says they strengthened themselves in the Lord.
We need to listen for God’s instruction.
1. Fight
If God tells you to fight – fight.
If God tells you not to fight – don’t fight.
2. Flee
If God tells you to run – run.
If God tells you to stand – stand.
God told Elijah to flee after he confronted Ahab. He went into hiding for several years until the word of the Lord came to him again. This time the Lord instructed him to go back stand and confront Ahab.
3. Freeze
Sometimes the strength of the emotion triggered by the threat paralyzes us. Sometimes God tells us to stand still and see the salvation of God.
Fret
Constant fret over a real or perceived threat is NEVER healthy. It keeps us in a perpetual state of fear. It keeps the adrenaline flowing without an outlet or action. Paul told the Philippians to STOP worrying or fretting. Rather than deal Biblically with the real threat with appropriate action, we stew and fret.
4. Faith -- TRUST
The primary response to fear must be faith. By faith, I mean trust and obedience. In the face of the threat that triggers the fear, we must first affirm our trust in a faithful Creator and purpose to respond correctly.
Trust in God’s person, presence and promise must be the primary response to fear.
Trust God to deal with the past.
Trust God in the present circumstance.
Trust God for protection and direction in the future.
Scripture does not deny that this broken world is frightening and painful.
Scripture does not minimize fearful circumstances and events.
Scripture does not promise protection from uncomfortable situations.
Scripture clearly tells us that tribulation is not only an expected but necessary factor in our spiritual growth.
Anyone that teaches differently is selling something or wanting something from you. Our voluntary response to an uncomfortable situation or threat tests and exposes the strength or weakness of our faith. We can say we trust God, but if we continually live in fear, worry, and anxiety without an appropriate Biblical response, we deceive ourselves.
Persistent fear exposes a major issue in my life.
I am ignorant of God’s person, presence and promises. (Lack of knowledge)
I refuse to trust God’s person and promise. (Lack of trust)
The response of trust comes from knowledge of God’s person, an awareness of God’s presence and a grip on God’s promises. Repeatedly, God encouraged people in fearful circumstance to take courage and not fear. The subsequent reason for courage had to do with the person, presence and promise of God. We serve an all-powerful, all knowing concerning past, present and future things and an ever-present God who is fully capable of addressing ANY fearful circumstance in which we may find ourselves. Nothing happens in life that He does not skillfully and sovereignly orchestrate to accomplish His higher purposes.
He declares His unconditional love for us.
He promises NEVER to leave us or forsake us. He is with us.
Knowing these indisputable facts enables us, like Jesus, to continually entrust our souls in both the good and bad circumstances of life to a faithful Creator. Jesus preached that people should not fret about life because God cares deeply, but should keep His kingdom and living a godly life at the top of their priority list. Overwhelming feelings of fear should prompt us to evaluate honestly our level of trust. A life submitted to the Holy Spirit and dependent on Him produces His fruit, which includes peace, longsuffering and self-control in the face of life’s threatening events. Jesus told His disciples not to worry about what they would say when hauled before the authorities for the Holy Spirit would provide the words to say. James reminds us that God resists the proud but gives power to the humble and submitted. Many overcame fear by setting their heart to seek the Lord. (1 Chron 22:13; 2 Chron 20:3)
Life continually tests the reality of our trust.
we (Paul and company) had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us... 2 Cor 1:9-10
In the face of life-threatening circumstances Paul looked to the God who had delivered before and was confident He could again. He entrusted himself to His Lord. When the word of the Lord came to Elijah, he obeyed; even in a threatening assignment. He stood up to Ahab the hostile king of Israel and 800 hostile prophets of Baal and became victorious. When he acted apart from the word of the Lord later, he ran sacred of one woman, Jezebel. When Peter took His eyes off Jesus and focused on the raging storm, he sank like a rock. We are safer in the will of God in a threatening situation than out of the will of God in a comfortable cocoon of our own making.
5. Pray with Thanksgiving
Some of these responses overlap. Submitting to God and yielding to the Spirit involve prayer but a couple key verses specifically mention prayer in conjunction with fear.
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7
A few observations! The focus on what we should do is clear. Rejoice realizing the Lord is near. Let your resulting anxiety-free state be evident by not being anxious concerning ANYTHING. Instead, pray about EVERYTHING. The alternative to anxiety is prayer. The more vital our communication with the God the less anxious we will be about life. Think about it.
Being in direct communication with the all-powerful, all knowing, everywhere present God when a threatening circumstance arises obviously diminishes the sting of the treat. Talk to God about your feelings of anxiety. Let Him know how you feel. Be sure you express thanksgiving for the faith building opportunity. It is harder to be afraid and thank God for the situation at the same time.
The result? The peace which comes from God; a peace that defies human logic, will garrison, guard, protect your HEART (feelings) and your MIND thinking.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on Him, because with Him there is continual care for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7
The prayer of humility is the act of giving everything to a loving God in prayer.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 The motivation is that He continually cares about us as individuals.
Understanding the depth of God’s love purges, throws out, casts off fear. He can be trusted with your heart.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8
Nehemiah faced threatening situations with prayer. He spent long periods of prayer and fasting when he first heard about the deplorable conditions in Jerusalem even though he was hundreds of miles away. He fired off a prayer when the king noticed his sadness for his people.
So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, "Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?" Then the king said to me, "What would you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 2:2-4
He prayed when his enemies threatened the work on the wall.
For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, "They will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done." But now, O God, strengthen my hands. Nehemiah 6:9
Prayer isn’t usually my first response. I usually stew and fret a bit before I get around to conversing with God about it. It painfully exposes my lack of true trust in God’s person, presence and promise.
6. Pursue the truth
Many of our fears arise because of ignorance. You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free, even from fear.
A wise man is strong (not fearful), and a man of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. Proverbs 24:5-6
Jacob feared because of his ignorance of God’s presence. He ran in fear from his brother Esau and God spoke to him in a dream.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." Genesis 28:15-17
Peter clearly spelled out the benefits of a proper knowledge and perspective. What we need in threatening circumstance is power and peace. Peter prayed for both in abundance for his readers.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 2 Peter 1:2-4
Where do we find such power and peace? It comes through a deeper awareness of God and Jesus who provide everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. Of course, continual interaction with the written word of God brings comfort and encouragement in stressful times. Practical research can also dispel fear-triggering ignorance.
7. Encourage one another with words.
There are numerous places where courage in threatening situations came from an encouraging word from another person. Besides a word from the Lord, the words of other people encourage us. God instructs all followers of Jesus to be encouragers rather than discouragers.
Let no worthless (discouraging) word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it empower or energize (give grace) those who hear. Ephesians 4:29
Examples of encouragement in threating circumstances appear all through the Bible.
And Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David at Horesh, and encouraged him in God. Thus he said to him, "Do not be afraid, because the hand of Saul my father will not find you, and you will be king over Israel and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also." So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house. 1 Samuel 23:16-18
The people encouraged Rehobom, Solomon’s son.
Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah and supported Rehoboam the son of Solomon for three years, for they walked in the way of David and Solomon for three years. 2 Chronicles 11:16-17
God told Moses to encourage Joshua.
The LORD was angry with me also on your account, saying, 'Not even you shall enter there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it. Deuteronomy 1:37-38
The people encouraged Joshua.
"Anyone who rebels against your command and does not obey your words in all that you command him, shall be put to death; only be strong and courageous." Joshua 1:18
The prophet Obed encouraged Asa.
Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah. 2 Chronicles 15:8
The subject of encouragement warrants a whole series in itself. God called us to bless others.
Blessing others includes speaking words of blessing. Paul began his letters with the two most needed elements; grace and peace. Along with encouraging words, we also find and encouraging touch. A pat on the back, a holy hug a loving touch greatly encourage the fearful.
8. Prepare
Few things generate fear than unpreparedness. The more prepared the less reason to fret.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household, For all her household are clothed with scarlet. Proverbs 31:21
Peter does not promise protection from persecution but courage in it through proper focus and preparation.
Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 1 Peter 3:13-16
9. Rejoice
Then Nehemiah said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Neh 8:10
Paul, who was in prison when he wrote it, told the Philippians to REJOICE. That is what he was doing in prison. Rejoicing in life-threating circumstances. Legitimate threats require a Spirit-directed response. Perceived threats require a Spirit directed renewing of our thinking.
It boils down to this. Either we live in continual fear and turmoil because of threatening circumstances that are happening or might happen or we live in a peaceful Fear of the Lord who has it all under control.
Today
Use your fears to expose your pockets of doubt. Use your fears to motivate a godly response.
Should I Stand and fight in the strength of the Lord or flee from the imminent danger – get outta there?
Should I freeze or act?
Confess my unbelieving fretting.
Entrust my soul to my Faithful Creator.
Pray with thanksgiving.
Pursue the truth.
Encourage others
Prepare
Rejoice in the Lord for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
