“Fear Not”
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness”. Isaiah 41:10
As we watch the devastating effect of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, the death toll of the mudslide in Sierra Leone and the nuclear threat of North Korea; we see the “embers” of the Devil’s increased activity in the earth of which have caused many to become fearful and unsure of what the future holds for them.
Fear is defined by Webster dictionary as the “agitated feeling caused by the anticipation or realization of danger; an uneasy feeling that something may happen contrary to one’s hopes; a feeling of deep, reverential awe and dread.“ Fear is also said to be” False Evidence Appearing Real”. However in the midst of all this fear-mongering, we, as children of God, must have an attitude based on the word of God and not on the news. Isaiah 8: 12-13, we told not to fear anyone or anything; “Say ye not, a confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, a confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread”.
To fear God means to have the utmost sense of awe & respect for God who has promised that He will be with us to strengthen us, to help and uphold us in times like these. The fear that grips people causing them to be anxious is not of God but of the Devil; 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Therefore it is very clear that God means we should not be fearful of what is happening around us! Like David who declared in Psalms 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”.
Elisha demonstrated in 2 Kings 6:16-17 that even in the midst being surrounded by the Syrian Army, he was assured and confident in God’s protection in his circumstances; for he answered, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha”.
Faith cannot operate when fear is present and vice versa. When we get into fear it can cause one to:
- Be led into sin (Nehemiah 6:13)
2. Become enslaved (Joshua 9:3-27)
3. Be tormented (1 John 4:18)
4. Believe in evil reports instead of God’s promises (Numbers 13:31-33)
5.Compromise (Matthew 26: 69-75)
6.Become weakened and battle weary (Judges 7:6)
7. Settle for second best ultimately leading to wrong choices.
Getting into fear blocks destinies; it causes our lives to be impeded. There is a saying that goes, “do what you fear most, for at the end of it, you will find there is no fear in it”. The truth is that there is nothing beyond God; He will always make away where there seems to be no way; he will come through. Did you know that there are 365 verses in the bible that state “Fear Not”?? One for each day of the year!! We must exchange any fear in our lives with the faith we’ve be given by Christ! FEAR NOT!!
“Fear Not”, because the Lord has declared this month to be one of fearlessness . . . receive it in now in the Mighty Name of Jesus! Amen.
Pastor Tope Dosumu