(the sermon I shared last Wednesday night, definitely a 'preaching to the choir' message)
Fear is a word that puts a shiver in your back, isn’t it? (scaredy cat)
You guys deal with fear on a daily basis, don’t you? Name some of your fears…
Me, I’m afraid of spiders. Always have been. Got bit by a big hairy wolf spider when I was about Sarah’s age, and never really got over it. Really, bugs in general pretty much freak me out. Ask Rob. J I frequently have nightmares about spiders, bugs, being bitten or stung or at least about to. Didn’t help that Arachnophobia came out while I was in jr. high. I watched it, beginning to end, in gross fascination. Had nightmares for weeks! (trailer)
They didn’t even show the worst part, when the spider crawls out of the ladies nose. Ew.
There are little fears; like failing a test, or tripping up in front of cute guy, or forgetting to put on deodorant.
There are medium sized fears; like failing a class, or a grade, fear of getting hurt or sick, fear of losing a relationship, fear of never fitting in.
There are major fears; fears that can shape your world view and alter what you think about yourself… Fears like the fear of failure, fear of terminal illness, fear of death (for yourself or a loved one), fear of change, fear of the unknown..
All of us face fears at some points in our life, maybe even every day. And for some people, facing fear is a constant hang-up in their life. The thing about fear is that it’s a growing monster in the closet. The more you feed it, the greater it grows. And fear, is never from God. The Bible has some awesome things to say about fear, but the issue there is that if you never crack your Bible open, you will never find out God’s truth about fear. I’m praying that God will give each of you a hunger for His word, like you’ve never had before. (share my experiences with God’s word lately)
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“The Lord is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a strong mind.” 1 Timothy 1:7
In fact, the only appropriate fear in your life; is the fear of the Lord. He makes it abundantly clear throughout the Bible.
“I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell.” Luke 12:5
“In the fear of the Lord there is a strong confidence and His children will have a place of refuge.” Proverbs 14:2
“He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Hi, He will also hear their cry and save them.” Psalm 145:19
Not like a scared of God type fear (He could smite you), but a holy reverence because He is awesome. Think about an experience that rendered you speechless, like meeting someone famous or powerful, or witnessing something incredible in nature like a hurricane or a tornado (share my Niagara experience). You are in awe of that situation. God is like that, only a gagillion times more awesome than our imagination can ever begin to fathom. The more you get to know God, the more you will have a holy fear of Him, a reverence, an amazement of who He is and what He is capable of.
Now, when you are thinking about your fear, the small ones to the big ones. In your minds eye, place that fear next to God. Realize that God is so much bigger than your fear could ever grow to be. Take that one step further, and place your fear in God’s hands. Let Him lift it from you.
A very good friend of mine had this quote on her FB wall a few weeks ago. It was very eye opening to me. “People often suffer the most by anticipating suffering that never happens. They, therefore, have more to bear than God give them to bear.” (old Dutch poem)
I’ve been praying about this message for two weeks. I felt like a week ago that God was asking me to speak to you guys about fear. Our God has a sense of humor, doesn’t He? Personally, we are walking through a pretty precarious time in our lives. But I know that you guys are too. Anyway, I’ve really been growing in my faith and trust for God lately (attribute that to regular scheduled quiet times and a deep desire and request to grow in that area of my life). But last night, as I was trying to sleep, all of my fears where creeping in to the edges of my mind. It’s so tempting, especially in the middle of the night, to dwell on them, stir them up in your heart and get all upset about something that you can more than likely do nothing about. Rob reminded me gently, what I was speaking on this evening. (gotta love a husband who tells you what you need to hear) So I lay there, and prayed, and asked the maker of the universe to calm my heart and wash away my fears. And He did. And I got a great night’s rest.
The reality is, that God created you, He knows you, and He cares for you. He wants to see you grow, to nurture you, to show you His love. He is trustworthy, far more than any person you will ever encounter here on this earth.
A verse that I have leaned on heavily the past few months is this…
“Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
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