Do Not Fear
By John Weaver
January 1, 2021
What is today the most disobeyed, neglected, and ignored commandment that Jesus gave? 144 times in scripture, I find these words, “Fear not.” This is not talking about the fear of God. That is a completely different kind of fear. The fear that we that will look at is about worry, anxiety, fret, etcetera.
There is nothing in all of scripture that is as important for us to possess as faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). The opposite of faith is fear. God wants us to live in faith, to walk in faith, and one day to die in faith. If we instead live in fear, we are trusting in ourselves. We cannot both live in fear and live in faith. The two are not compatible. One cancels out the other. This scripture must become reality for us. "Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7).
We need to live in the reality of the song that says:
God is bigger than all my problems,
Bigger than all my fears.
God is bigger than any mountain,
That I can or cannot see.
In Scripture, what are the first words that an angel told a person upon meeting, or that God said when He spoke to people? Yes, the words were, “Fear not.”
There are many things that we can fear or worry about: fear of failure, fear of dying, fear of sickness, fear of the unknown, fear of the future, fear of the dark. Some people from my background even have a fear of the light. My friend, to all of these things, may I say, “Fear not.” Every one of these things, and many more, God has under His control. Trust in God.
My heart goes out to a person who lives in fear. I do not look down on anyone who has been overtaken by fear. No one wants to live in fear. Several times, Scripture calls fear a spirit: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7), “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear” (Romans 8:15). In other places, it talks about being delivered from fear. “I sought the Lord and he heard me, and DELIVERED me from ALL my fears” (Psalm 34:4).
Fear is imagining what might happen.
Faith is knowing that whatever may happen, God is in control. “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.” (I Peter 5:7).
A person who has been overtaken and constantly lives in fear will need prayer and deliverance. But, praise God, He wants to deliver us from ALL our fears. Seek the Lord. Tell Him all your fears. Then tell Him, “I choose to trust You, Lord.” Memorize the verses in Proverbs and claim them. “(I will) trust in the LORD with all (my) heart; and lean not unto (my) own understanding. In all (my) ways (I will) acknowledge him, and he shall direct (my) paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Amen.
If, on the other hand, you are helping someone else get free from fear, remember that it will not work to try and explain that their fears are unfounded. To them they are real. They need delivered, not rationalized. I gained understanding on this when Brother Steve Stutzman gave this example:
In front of you is a young girl. Average height and weighing 80 pounds. She is so weak she can hardly stand and has one overriding fear. What is it? Her fear is what anyone can see is totally false: she fears that she is fat.
The person who is overtaken with fear will need love, compassion, and a helping hand to turn from fear to faith. It is faith that overcomes the world. Fear has torment, but faith will cause fear to leave. Praise God. “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear” (Psalm 118:6).
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