Post originally posted January 2023.
Since Covid, fear has exploded, and hasn’t slowed down yet. We’re living in uncertainty regarding our future, finances, sickness, and moral decay.
Everyone knows fear holds us captive, and that obviously doesn’t lend itself to victorious living, but we aren’t sure how to fight it.
According to the Bible, it appears we fear many things we should not and do not fear what we should.
It is time we learn how to fight fear so we can be victorious.
Let’s look at how often fear controls us before learning the one fear that will eliminate them.
What Do We Fear?
God says in 2 Timothy 1:7 that He hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind.
This reminds us, our natural fears don’t come from God, but from Satan himself, yet we still fight and struggle with the following fears.
- Fear of Insecurity
- Fear of Failure
- Fear of being alone
- Fear of disease and sickness
- Fear of Financial loss
- Fear of rejection
- Fear of Not being a good enough parent
- Fear of Our children’s future
- Fear of being a victim of a crime or abuse
- Fear of divorce or even marriage
- Fear of being in front of a crowd
- Fear of success
And, of course, being afraid of spiders, mice, and snakes.
God doesn’t want these fears to keep us from being victorious. So much so, that He pointed out, “Fear not” 365 times in the Bible.
He doesn’t want us to fear even one of the things listed above.
It’s kind of ironic then, a fear exists that Christians should obtain possessing the power to eradicate all other fears. It unlocks the key to living victoriously.
For the record, I am not referring to fearing the Lord either. Quite contraire.
Why Not Fear?
Since we’ve already established God isn’t the originator of the fears that entangle or ensnare us daily, then we should want His help at the very least.
Isaiah 41:10. Says, “Fear not, for I am with you says the Lord.”
Yes, another one of the 365 “Fear nots” in the Bible, but let’s think about this for a minute.
On the surface, it may not seem like much, but this one short verse is packed with a punch.
Read it again.
Did you catch that?
God told us not to fear, but I want you to look at the end of the verse for the reason why.
Because He, the Lord God Almighty, is with us.
Sounds simple once again, but God is:
- The most powerful entity in existence.
- The Creator of the Universe who made you and I so unique.
- The One who makes the impossible possible.
- The very same being who loves us unconditionally and wants the best for us.
- The One who sacrificed His only begotten Son for our sins and rose Him from the dead.
If we are saved, we are not to fear the things of this world or what man can do to us BECAUSE the all-knowing and all-powerful God is with us.
He protects us, preventing us from being afraid. Think of the 23rd Psalm or the 91st.
Without Him, we will fear anything and everything. Fear can literally consume us.
What Should We Fear?
So far we have learned what we fear, that we shouldn’t, and why, but what is the fear that will allow us to live victoriously?
I admit, this takes a shift in our mindset as we have been taught not to fear so much.
Truthfully, the power of the verse in Isaiah did not sink in until I read a conversation between Moses and God. Moses example blew me away, and I know I had read this before.
You see, if God is with us and can handle anything and everything, in addition to removing all our fears, then we should fear the absence of God’s presence.
If we fear not because God is with us, then the opposite should hold true. We should fear the absence of God’s presence.
Moses understood this principle, and how powerful of a truth it is. He drove this home by his example in Exodus 33.
Moses’ Example
Moses saw God face to face. He feared the absence of God’s presence and lived it.
May this revelation set people free of many fears as they read this.
I’m still digesting this hidden treasure every Christian should learn in order to live victoriously.
God and Moses had the most interesting conversation in Exodus 33.
God told him, “It’s time to lead the people to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will send angels ahead to drive out your enemies.”
Exciting, right?
If Moses thought so, he didn’t have time to react before God dropped a bomb shell on him.
God added He wouldn’t be going. He refused to travel with them because they were a stubborn and rebellious people.
Ouch!
Remember how tight God and Moses were and how God had depended on him to lead them out of Egypt. Talk about a letdown.
Before the pain could be absorbed, God spoke again. God explained exactly how fed up He was.
The reason God wasn’t going was because He was afraid, He would be tempted to destroy them along the way.
These stubborn and rebellious Israelites had pushed God beyond His limits. Like a parent, God was so mad at his kids, he planned on giving Himself a long time-out in order not to hurt them.
Hard to imagine, but true.
How would you react if God abandoned you this way?
I’d like to react the way Moses did.
A few verses later, Moses displayed his own stubbornness and boldness if you ask me.
Moses said, “If you don’t travel with me, I’m not going. It is your presence Lord that sets us apart. Your presence is how other nations know your favor is upon us.”
Let that sink in for a moment.
Moses knew the power of God’s presence. He had plenty of experience relying on it. Not only that, but He knew how other nations recognized God’s presence being with Him also.
But that’s not all.
As a result, Moses set his foot down and refused to go to the Promised land if it meant going without God.
Moses was more concerned about having God’s presence and His favor than he was reaching and living in the Promised Land.
He would rather die in the desert than to see the Promised Land if it meant going without God’s presence.
Wow! Absolutely powerful! What an example!
Moses understood the importance of God’s presence, not only in his own life, but how it witnesses to the rest of the world.
We too should be afraid of doing anything without God’s presence.
The only thing to fear for Christians, is fearing the absence of God Himself.
If you have time to read the entire thing, I recommend it highly for this to sink further in.
What Does This Mean?
As grace living Christians, we know God is with us, but what do we do with Him?
Do we put Him on a shelf to collect dust like unread Bibles?
Do we forget He’s there?
Do we ignore him?
Maybe we don’t talk to Him, seek His will, or ignore His advice.
We need to be more like Moses and be unwilling to take another step without God’s presence. We should want God right there, guiding our every step.
It is time we quit fearing the things of this world and fear the absence of God’s presence so we too can have His favor for sinners to know He is real.
What will you fear? Man, or the absence of God’s presence?
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© 2024, Jena Fellers. All rights reserved.
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