Fear is a wrong view of uncertainty. Anytime, we are faced with a situation or a person that we feel is larger or has more power, fear can set in. The Israelites felt as grasshoppers before the giants in the land (Numbers 13:33). The reality is, as frail human beings we are prone to this condition. We live in a big world, with all kinds of people and circumstances. Our natural response to things that could harm us can be fear.
As believers, our response to fear needs to be different. We have a covenant relationship with the God of the universe. He’s the one who called us to Himself; not because we deserved it but because He loved us. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation, or a relationship with our holy father. This should give us security because it wasn’t my performance that caused God to love me or approve me, so my mistakes are not going to cause Him to take His hands off of my life either. There is peace and safety in recognizing this great truth! It doesn’t mean we won’t go through hard times, but we should look expectantly at how God is going to use those hard times for our good because we trust in Him!!
It is not surprising when you look at the scripture the number of times God visits His people and tells them not to be afraid. The only way we can live a life free from fear is to look to the Bible for the answers that He has given when He told His people not to be afraid.
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15:1
The Lord is our shield and our great reward. God told Abraham that He was Abraham’s shield. The reality of life is that we really can’t protect ourselves from most things. Unless God and His angelic protection is around us, we can’t do much to guard ourselves from harm. God also told Abraham that He is his great reward. Abraham had refused the wealth that Melchizedek had offered him earlier. He was probably wondering if he missed out on a once in a life time opportunity for wealth, so the Lord came to encourage him. God told him that He Himself will be His reward. What a grand promise!! Out of all the things that the Lord could reward someone, God is saying I am going to reward you with Me!!
Beloved, the promise that God made to Abraham is also available to all of us if we truly recognize the work of the cross and what Jesus bought us. We have the Holy Spirit in us which means God is with us all the time. He is our reward. He is our shield. He is the one who comforts us and counsels us. We get to have him to ourselves 24/7 and don’t need to get on his schedule to be seen by Him. He is always available to talk to us and fellowship with us.
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31
We are deeply valued by the Lord. Jesus is telling His people not to fear because they are more valuable than the sparrows. Many times fear comes to our hearts because we don’t see ourselves as valuable to God or to others. We fear getting forgotten. We fear if we don’t perform to a certain level or are seen by people, we are not going to be considered valuable. The beauty of Jesus’ statement is that He uses a sparrow as a point of value comparison. Sparrows are fragile, small, birds. As far as I know they don’t accomplish much except eating seeds, insects, chirping and reproducing themselves. However, Jesus points out that if he cares for little sparrows, how much more does He value us!!
In our performance oriented culture, many of us have been raised in performance oriented families, and there is a restorative work that God has to do in our souls in two ways. The first one is to really know we are valuable without performing. This doesn’t give us the license to be irresponsible, or not do our job to excellence. We need to recognize what we do is our act of worship before a holy God who gives us the abilities we have. It is for Him we do what we do. However, we don’t use it as a place of finding value or identity!!
The second issue is that we are guilty of looking at people’s performance and giftings, and treating them with more honor and dignity. That’s completely wrong. That’s not God’s heart for people. Obviously in each organization or family structure, performance is part of life, but it should never be used as a motivating factor to compare one person or one child to another. God has set intrinsic value in each of us because we are created in His image, and we need to ensure that our heart is aligned with that truth!! We can’t deviate from it, otherwise we contribute to the performance oriented mentality in our culture and people around us. It also causes rejection or conformity. We want to raise people and generations who are real, genuine people, and sincerely love God and others!
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28
Fear God more than anyone or anything else in life. In life we will always be faced with fearing people and individuals that we highly love or respect, but the above scripture gives us an eye-opening perspective that we must heed!! No one man on this earth should have such a power over us that it causes us to let go of our allegiance to God, or fear man over God! Even if that man is God’s representative!! We have to continually keep the Lord before us so we can keep our souls in the right condition before God.
There needs to be a resolve that we are not willing to compromise our relationship with the Lord in order to please man, be rewarded by man, or even be spared from death by man. That’s a high call, but I am afraid many succumb to this fear because they desire to be part of the in-crowd, part of the powerful group, or just don’t want to be judged by others!!
If we are going to be men and women of God who are His representative, we need to be willing to withstand adversity. We must be willing to stand alone sometimes and do what is right. We don’t need to hide behind anyone to be our shield because God says He will be our shield. That’s the place where our faith is tested. When the Lord comes through and He shields us, we have a new revelation of His character. We don’t just talk about Him being our shield, we know it because He has revealed it to us in our walk with Him.
Allow God to examine your heart to see if there is an ungodly fear in your heart towards someone or some situation. Meditate on the above scriptures and allow Him to speak to your fear. Cast it out in the name of Jesus and start walking in the truth you know!! As you become free, you can help set others free!!
I just feel like I need to say for those of you who did not have a father figure in your life or you lost him at an early age, please cry out to the Lord for healing of your heart!! That’s a huge hole in your heart that could cause great fear and anxiety when faced with uncertain situations. The Lord is your heavenly father, and He wants to heal your heart and fill all those empty places with His love, his power, and His strength. Lord heal our hearts in Jesus’ name!!