Why is it that when we feel as we are on the right tract something happens and fear slips in? Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion by the belief that someone or something dangerous is likely to cause pain, or a threat. There are many things that cause that immediate sinking feeling of fear. For example when swimming in the ocean and something touches you and you think a shark is about to attack, or when you are home alone and you hear a noise and you think you are about to witness someone breaking into your house. Yes these things can cause fear and if not dealt with can cause a crippling lifestyle of being afraid of everything. But I am not talking about those every day fears, I am talking about the fears that come along with a Christian walk.
We need to realize that the past is the past. A lot of our current fears are developed from something that has happened to us in the past. We sometimes project an old fear onto a new day and that is not what God has commanded of us. Isaiah 43:18-19 says "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing". Where God wants to take you, you have never been before. To beat that old fear, trade it with the fear of missing God. We need to move forward with God, and if we are living in a fear of the past we stay in the past. The only way we can move forward is to overcome the fear of saying yes to God. Our God is an again kind of God, but pride rooted in our fear will hold us back. So remember when you are afraid you are going to fail, God will NEVER fail you!
When we decide to follow Jesus and make Him our number one, there is a sense of fear that comes along with that decision. What if I fail Him? What if I can't do that? What if I don't have the words to say? What if I don't want to be uncomfortable? God does not want us to have those fears even though the world may say those are "valid" fears. No matter what happens the fear of the unknown is always scary for us, but fear defined in a Christians life is an outburst of unbelief. When we are saying "ok I am afraid", it is telling God I don't believe that you can handle this. God has designed a specific purpose for each and every one of our lives. There is a reason why we are placed where we are and with the people we are with. Acts 17:26 proves that, it says: "He determines the times set for them and the exact places where they should live". God never puts us in a place where we are not supposed to be.
There are a group of people in the Old Testament that are constantly stricken with fear. The Israelites are the prime example for us to see how fear can take over someone's life. Of course it is funny, because most of the things that they were afraid of were brought upon themselves by trying to take matters into their own hands and not following God's commands (because His commands seemed scary or impossible). They had been shown God's protecting hand over and over again and they still chose to do it their way. In Joshua 1 we see that Moses had just died and Joshua was now in charge. The Lord was commanding him to gather the Israelites and cross the Jordan because they were about to receive what all had been promised to them. God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous, for the task at hand was something bigger then Joshua could have imagined. The Israelites were terrified for the change. And thus having fear of the unknown sink in.
There are a group of people in the Old Testament that are constantly stricken with fear. The Israelites are the prime example for us to see how fear can take over someone's life. Of course it is funny, because most of the things that they were afraid of were brought upon themselves by trying to take matters into their own hands and not following God's commands (because His commands seemed scary or impossible). They had been shown God's protecting hand over and over again and they still chose to do it their way. In Joshua 1 we see that Moses had just died and Joshua was now in charge. The Lord was commanding him to gather the Israelites and cross the Jordan because they were about to receive what all had been promised to them. God commanded Joshua to be strong and courageous, for the task at hand was something bigger then Joshua could have imagined. The Israelites were terrified for the change. And thus having fear of the unknown sink in.
There are a few things that we can meditate on when we are facing the fears of whatever life may bring our way. One is that God has a promise land for each of our lives, and that promise land is where we get to see the fruition of those promises that God has placed on our lives fulfilled. So when we are fearful what is exactly at stake? When we are fearful, we are letting Satan put his nasty rotten feet in our promise land. And when he is treading on our turf he will do whatever it takes to keep us from getting to the rewards God has for us. So how do we tackle fear, and prevent it from happening?
We need to realize that the past is the past. A lot of our current fears are developed from something that has happened to us in the past. We sometimes project an old fear onto a new day and that is not what God has commanded of us. Isaiah 43:18-19 says "Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing". Where God wants to take you, you have never been before. To beat that old fear, trade it with the fear of missing God. We need to move forward with God, and if we are living in a fear of the past we stay in the past. The only way we can move forward is to overcome the fear of saying yes to God. Our God is an again kind of God, but pride rooted in our fear will hold us back. So remember when you are afraid you are going to fail, God will NEVER fail you!
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