The Danger of Misplaced Fear

1 Samuel 17:1–11 NASB 2020

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, and they drew up in battle formation to confront the Philistines. The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side, while Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span. And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze saber slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-carrier walked in front of him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle formation? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man as your representative and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” Then the Philistine said, “I have defied the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man, so that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very fearful.

Intro

What is our first response when we face opposition?

Jesus in the garden was sad, but His eyes were on the Father and He was ready to go wherever the Father leads knowing that God’s will is good and that God will always accomplish good though even our worst troubles.

Tension

We naturally trend towards the path of Adam and Eve. They took their eyes off of God when they were opposed rather than looking towards Him.

Each of us will struggle to respond appropriately in our human nature which highlights our need to walk in an anointing different from Adam’s. We want to rather walk in the anointing of Christ.

But how do we get there? It may seem impossible to you, that you could be a person who responds to opposition like Jesus does… and it is… if you are walking in your anointing rather than Christ’s anointing for you.

Truth

Even the most prepared can encounter unexpected opposition (1-3)

Saul and his men knew war. War is what they were prepared for. What they were not prepared for was a different kind of challenge.

A couple of observations which reveal that they were prepared for war...

They were gathered as an army.

The very nature of the word army infers that the men were armed and ready to do battle.

They were in battle formation which gives the idea that they were trained and ready to fight. They had been here before.

This was not the first time Israel had faced the Philistines under Saul.

They had fought and whooped the Philistines many times before.

As prepared for war as these Israelite men were, they were not prepared for the sort of challenge they were about to receive.

We too can think we are well prepared, but that does not mean we will be ready for everything which comes at us.

Unexpected opposition is pretty much guaranteed in this life, especially for followers of Christ.

2 Timothy 3:10–16 NASB 2020

Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But evil people and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness;

Matthew 10:34–39 NASB 2020

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a person’s enemies WILL BE the members of his household. “The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. The one who has found his life will lose it, and the one who has lost his life on My account will find it.

Our enemies are often imposing and bigger than what we can handle

It has been said that God will never give you more than you can handle… tell that to the Israelites facing Goliath, or the Apostles facing persecution, or to Jesus facing the cross.

Indeed scripture says that we will never be tempted beyond what we are able to resist by the Spirit (1 Cor 10:13) but this does not mean that God will not allow us to be in situations which are overwhelming for us spiritually, emotionally, or physically.

God’s ultimate aim is not your momentary happiness. His aim is your ultimate holiness, which will lead to a greater happiness and a permanent joy.That God loves us means that He is always looking out for us, to bring us into what is best for us and sometimes he best can only come through difficulty.

If Christ was made complete through obedience under hardship and reliance on the Father, how much more must that apply to us?

Hebrews 5:7–10 NASB 2020

In the days of His humanity, He offered up both prayers and pleas with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His devout behavior. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him, being designated by God as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 NASB 2020

Because of the extraordinary greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Enemies come in order to challenge us

God allows us to be tested not for His sake, but for ours.

God already knows all of the outcomes so our tests prove nothing to Him. They do however, prove much to us.

God wants us to be confident in who we are in Him. When we emerge from a test victorious, it reveals to us His character which is being built in us. Tests have great potential to build our faith in what God is doing in and through us.

Enemies like to get us focused on our limitations rather than on our strength.

Notice that Goliath addressed the army as the servants of Saul rather than as the servants of God.

As servants of Saul they were mere men and prone to failure but as servants of God they had a long history of prevailing over enemies who were much mightier than they.

Saul was very flawed and I am sure they all saw that. If Saul was their strength, they were in trouble. As long as their eyes were on human strength rather than on God, they were toast.

Like them, we are mere people but with God we become so much more.

The enemy's goal is to remove us from the King's court and place us back under slavery to sin and death.

Goliath's vision for Israel was that they would be once again slaves to a pagan nation but God's vision was that they had been freed from Egypt to rule the land and to serve as a priestly nation for the entire world.

Our enemy has a vision of slavery for us too but we must learn to reject his vision in favor of God's.

Enemies thrive on our fear of them (11)

Saul and Israel obsessed over the imposing giant who was challenging them to the extent that they forgot about the Greater Giant who was on their side.

Once we are caught up with focusing on an enemy's strength rather than on God's power we are already defeated.

I am not advocating that Christians should be foolish or unaware, but I do think many of us today spend too much time focusing on external forces which are against us and not enough time focusing on the God who is with us.

With God, we may be tested, we may feel overwhelmed, but we can not lose because He will be victorious.

The truth is that the strength and power of the giants of this world are temporary and limited. They can only reach as far as God allows. That’s why Jesus told Pilot that he only had authority if His Father gave it to him. Their power is an illusion. God’s power is real.

Properly placed fear is the path to victory.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10).

Don’t do like Israel and Saul who placed their fear on the giant in front of them rather than the God who had delivered them countless times before from even worse enemies. Don’t do like Peter who placed his fear on the raging oceans rather than the Christ who stood before him.

Whatever you and I do, we must look to God and fear Him rather than fearing the giants we face. There is no giant we face who is bigger than the God who is on our side. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who feared God more than the flames, and Daniel who feared God more than the lions.

This is not to say that we won’t experience pain and difficulty, but that we are confident that even if we die God will raise us up in final victory. Everything He has promised us will indeed come to pass.

When we fear God more than our enemies, it takes the power of our enemies away.

Matthew 10:26–33 NASB 2020

“So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are two sparrows not sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows. “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

Application