I saw a little handstitched piece on Pinterest the other day that stated “Worry ends where faith begins” – a welcome thought isn’t it? But still, many Christians struggle daily with frets and worries and in doing so they miss out on the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).
FAITH ALLOWS US TO OVERCOME FEAR
Fear of Not Having Life’s Necessities
- Consider the widow in Zarephath who, through faith, in time of great famine prepared bread from the last of her flour and oil and gave to Elijah the prophet who had asked her for it (1 Kings 17:8-16). Fear would have prevented this woman (her son) from receiving the abundant blessing with which God rewarded her – the jar of oil and bin of flour did not run dry until the famine was completely over.
- How about the poor widow observed by Jesus who, even out of her poverty, gave all that she had – two mites (Luke 21:1-4). Fear of complete poverty would have prevented the widow to have been noted by Jesus – her generosity in poverty makes her rich to us as a beautiful example of faith!
We, like them, have no need to fear not having life’s necessities – God knows,
He provides, and He can bless us through others also! Please read and consider Matthew
6:25-34, Galatians 6:2, Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35, and Hebrews 13:5-6
Fear of Failure
This is a BIG fear for many. “What if I try, and don’t succeed?” “What
if…”, “What if…”, “What if…”.
- The woman with the flow of blood could have feared failure – the studied physicians who attended her only dried up her savings and caused further suffering as her conditioned worsened – but she drew near to Jesus – the Great Physician – and trusted in His power to heal and she was blessed (Mark 5:24-34).
- Sarah feared failure when she was told she would have a child in old age (90 years old), but she judged God faithful who had promised the child and she was blessed (Genesis 17:19; 18:11-14; 21:1, Hebrews 11:11).
- The apostle Peter fell (denied knowing the Lord) and yet, through faith, got back up and he was blessed (Luke 22:54-62, John 21:4-19, consider also Psalm 119:59-60) – while you're looking up passages plan to sit down and read the book of Acts (to read of Peter's work for the Lord) as well as First and Second Peter!
We can often feel like the recipient of the single talent, preferring to
bury the talent, than to risk failure in trying to develop it. God wants us to
trust in HIM and have faith in HIS abilities to help us succeed and to
overcome! Please read Philippians 4:13, Ephesians 6:10, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1
Corinthians 2:10 (and 2 Peter 2:9), 2 Corinthians 12:10, Romans 8:31, and
Hebrews 13:6
Fear of Death
- Rahab had faith that kept her in her house even as it tumbled with the rest of the walls when Jericho was conquered (Joshua 2 and 6), she could have feared death more, but she didn’t and we saw how she was blessed.
- Esther’s faith gave her courage to stand in the king’s court uninvited – the fear of death in that moment was very real (see Esther 4:11) - but she did so to make request to the king that would eventually help her save the Jewish people from Haman’s planned genocide (Esther 1-10).
- Even Jepthah’s daughter showed great faith in God – and concern for her father in God’s sight – by refusing to let her dad renege on a rash vow he had made before battle (see Judges 11:29-40 for complete account).
We do not need to fear death. Jesus has been there, He’s done that!
And He has gone before us to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-6)!
Faith allows us to overcome fear, and in overcoming fear we can also
overcome the world!
How do I know? Because Jesus
overcame the world (John 16:33) – and we can too!
overcomes the world.
And this is the victory
that has overcome
the world - our faith."
(1 John 5:4 NKJV)
Pursue faith, hold fast to it, let it grow and develop as you put aside your fears and fly!!
You can do it! So can I!!
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