Fear is a universal emotion felt by people throughout all times and in every part of the world. Fear serves a valuable purpose—to help keep us safe when threats arise by motivating us to cope with potential danger.
A fear
of heights can be a good thing because if you fall from a great height, you could
be injured or killed. The fear of heights
warns you to take care in that potentially dangerous situation. Other common fears triggers are:
- Darkness or being unable to see your surroundings
- Social interaction or rejection
- Snakes, rodents, spiders and other animals
- Death and dying
Anxiety is a form of persistent fear where people feel constantly worried without knowing why. It can be an especially crippling form of fear because the anxious person doesn’t know why they’re afraid and can’t address the cause of their fear.
Though unpleasant, fear is not necessarily a bad thing. We are told many times in Scripture to “Fear the Lord.” Fear in this sense counsels us to be careful with God, to respect and revere God, for He is holy and awesome. We should approach God with care, as one might approach the edge of the Grand Canyon because it is beautiful and inspiring, but a careless misstep could be the end of you. Fear is useful, but when it rules you, controls you, incapacitates you, fear has exceeded its purpose.
The Bible also tells people again and again, “Do not be afraid.” And this indicates we are often fearful in the wrong circumstances. It is when there is a guardrail protecting us from the edge of the Grand Canyon, but we still cannot approach. It is when the snake is securely behind the glass of a terrarium, but we still cannot look and admire the beauty of a creature God made. Our fear is out of control and keeping us from the blessings God wants us to have.
There is something wonderful waiting for you on the other side of your fears. What is it? Who will you be and what will your life be like if you overcome your fears? On the other hand, who will you be and what will life be like if your fears conquer you? The life God wanted to give Israel in the Promised Land was beautiful and prosperous, but they had to overcome their fears to enter it. Listen to God’s Word to Israel as they were poised to enter the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 6:10-13
10 “The Lord your God will soon bring you into the land he swore to give you
when he made a vow to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a land
with large, prosperous cities that you did not build. 11 The
houses will be richly stocked with goods you did not produce. You will draw
water from cisterns you did not dig, and you will eat from vineyards and olive
trees you did not plant. When you have eaten your fill in this land, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. 13 You must fear the Lord your God and serve him. When you take an oath, you must use
only his name”
There are two groups of people to consider in this story. The first group is pretty obvious, because it's who the passage directly addresses. The Israelites, had nothing to fear because God was with them. They are told the blessings they will receive because they trust God.
The other group in the passage is less obvious. It is the Canaanites. God is about to take their land away and give it to the Israelites. The Canaanites had every reason to fear because they rejected God. They lived in Canaan for over 2,000 years. Unfortunately, they rejected the one true God and devolved into evil, sexually immoral people who even sacrificed children as part of their religious rituals. Furthermore, these evils had been ongoing for at least 400 years. Finally, God was about to punish the Canaanites and give their land to the Israelites.
So the Canaanites who rejected God had everything to fear. Their day of reckoning was at hand. A Canaanite woman named Rahab revealed their fear in Joshua 2:9. “I know the Lord has given you this land,” she told them. “We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror.” When you reject God, you have reason for real fear. That’s a dangerous situation.
The Israelites had nothing to fear because God was with them. They put their faith in God. He described the blessings Israel would receive as they conquered Canaan. They would take possession of prosperous cities, homes already stocked with everything a person could need. There would be wells, city infrastructure, and farmland already cultivated and producing fruit. The towns God would give them were built by others and developed over decades and centuries. Everything was ready for the Israelites to live in the Land. God was with the Israelites. They simply had to trust God more than their fear and enter the Promised Land.
In verse 13, God reminds the Israelites “You must fear the Lord your God and serve him.” In other words, don’t be afraid of the Canaanites. Don’t be afraid to enter their land and conquer it. Don’t be afraid of the scary things of this world. Fear the Lord and obey Him. For then you will be on God side and God’s side is always the winning side.
God has a great plan for you too. He wants you to live a life of confidence and faith. He wants you to know He is with you and see His mighty hand at work. Just as Jesus called His disciples, He calls you, “Come follow me.” It is an amazing journey for all who answer the call to follow. We see God’s power at work. We see lives changed. We see fearful people find confidence. We see sinners transformed into saints. We see the hopeless find hope. And God supplies all the needs of His people as they embrace the mission of Christ.
Among the blessings of those who follow Christ is a peace that passed all understanding. You have peace in your heart. You are at one with your Creator and His creation. You know you have nothing to fear, nothing to hide, nothing to lose. You trust God, not only with your own life, but with the lives of those you care about most. You know you belong to God’s special family, for God adopts you as His own child. Regardless of your social status in this world, in God’s sight you are a royal priest—kings and queens in the eternal Kingdom of God.
There are still storms and trials and troubles. There may be resistance. (Look what they did to Jesus; they crucified Him.) However, Christ is with His followers throughout all the trials of life. Hebrews 13:6, “So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?””
Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave, those who follow Jesus also follow Him through death to ressurection and eternal life. That means we no longer even need to fear death. We are free to live with incredible faith and and boldness and confidence!
There is something wonderful waiting for you on the other side of your fears. What is it? Who will you be and what will your life be like if you overcome your fears? On the other hand, who will you be and what will life be like if your fears conquer you?
Whether you live in fear or live in faith all comes down to your choices. Will you be like the Canaanites who continually rejected God and chose to live for themselves? Or will you be like the Israelites, whom God chose and they chose to serve and obey God?
If you continue to choose your own way, you are in great danger—eternal danger. A day of reckoning is coming for you, for we all must face God’s judgment one day. Those who reject Christ will be rejected by God and cast out of the Good Land into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
But if you repent of your selfish sin and chose to put your faith in Christ, God will save you. There will be nothing to fear because Jesus has already paid the penalty for your sins. Now you are free to live in God’s love and share His love with everyone around you. You didn’t earn these blessings. Christ earned them for you. So live a life of grateful obedience.
Who will you choose to serve today? Will you serve your fear and continue to miss out on the Promised Land God wants to give you? Or will you choose to serve you own selfish ambitions and reap the wrath of God? Or will you choose to serve the One True and Living God and be His chosen sons and daughters for eternity?
As for
me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
Take time to pray and chose who you will trust and follow and obey. Be clear with God and yourself about your decision today.
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