Facing Fear with Faith

Good morning brothers and sisters in Christ! The LORD has brought us together for another beautiful day to worship, fellowship, and praise His name.

I am kind of an expert on today’s topic. I have lived with a lot of fear in my life. How many of us can admit that we have experienced fear in our lives? Have you experienced fear recently? I have. You have heard of fight, flight, or freeze.

While Carolyn and I were in Florida cruising down the highway, this big SUV stopped dead in the middle of the highway between lanes. Now, the fear I felt resulted in me getting angry, but we are not going to talk about that today. I threw my arm out in front of Carolyn to try to protect her from what I thought was going to be very bad.

Praise God nothing came of it and everybody was safe. I felt a very real fear in that moment! Don’t even get me started on how many times I experienced fear while my kids where growing up. They are the reason I do not have any hair!

There are those who will try to tell you that you can not experience fear if you are a “true believer.” “Well, if the LORD is in you, you can not experience fear.” I call baloney on that. If you have ever been in a life threatening situation, you have experienced fear. If you experience love, there are times you will experience real fear. If you have children or grandchildren, you have experienced fear. I did not know what real fear was until I had kids.

I am not going to stand here and tell you that if you experience fear that you have little or no faith. That is simply not true. If it were true, then almost everybody in the Bible had no faith. I have yet to meet an honest believer who will not admit to experiencing fear at times.

What I can promise you is that God is with you in your times of fear. He has promised you His very presence.

God is omniscient, He is all knowing. God is omnipotent, He is All-Powerful. God is omnipresent, He is present everywhere. God is above you. God is behind you, He goes before you, and He is alive in you. God has given you the promise of His presence.

1. Promise of His Presence

Isaiah 41:9 NLT

9 I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, ‘You are my servant.’ For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

I was going to start with Isaiah 41:10, but I think some of us need to hear Isaiah 41:9 this morning. Right here, God is talking to the people of Israel. The Israelites were held captive, they were scattered, and had a long history of being unfaithful to God. Yet what does God say to His people? “You are my servant, I have chosen you, I will not throw you away.”

How many of us have been held captive by depression, addiction, trauma, or fear, and God brought us back home? He is perfectly faithful to us, yet how many of us can say that we have been 100% faithful to God?

I heard another pastor say that we do not go into a marriage asking our spouse how many times we can cheat on them before they will leave us. Yet, many of us treat God that way. AND HE IS STILL THERE! HE TAKES US BACK EVERY TIME!

Many of us have been to the ends of the earth looking for something to satisfy us outside of God. Things like money, fame, power, opportunity, worldly possessions. Yet in His great love for us, Holy Spirit prompts our hearts to come back home to the Father.

Let me tell you something, I have been to the point of no return, the dark abyss that I did not think I would escape. That is a scary place to be, Amen? Abba Daddy was there every time to bring me back home.

I look around this room at so many of you and some of the people online, and I know for a fact that God brought many of you back from the edge. For many of us, God has had to walk us back through the darkness more than once. It is only our faith in Him that overcomes that dreadful fear that so many of us experience at times.

Look at that verse, He calls you His servant this morning. Some people will read that and say “I aint nobodies servant!” I said the same thing at one time. Let me tell you something; you are either a servant to God or a servant to this world! We all serve one or the other. I love being His servant. What an honor! God has chosen us to be spiritual descendants of Abraham and has adopted us though Christ as His very own.

God is not going to throw you away or push you off to the side! He does not do that to His children. He is certainly not going to abandon you when you are afraid. You mean everything to Him, and He proved it even though He didn’t have to prove anything!

In Isaiah 41:10, we read:

Isaiah 41:10 NLT

10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

This is NOT God getting stern and saying “What is wrong with you?” “I told you to STOP worrying!” This is the gentle voice of your Father in Heaven lifting you up and encouraging you. He knows the power that fear and discouragement have over His children. He encourages us to focus on Him, not on what is holding us back! Not the fear that has you in chains.

Now, there is a difference in experiencing fear and living fearfully.

Fear - Emotional foreboding or dread of impending distress or misfortune.

Fear is a natural emotion given by God, whereas “fearfulness” is not of God because it means we are “living in a constant state of fear.”

Fear is such a powerful emotion that in psychology it is known as a primary emotion. Fear leads to what are called secondary emotions such as: anxiety, depression, and anger. Living fearfully intensifies our other emotions which can lead to mental health issues.

Fear can also manifest itself physically in psychosomatic symptoms. People who live in fear experience high blood pressure, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, nausea, ulcers, headaches, and migraines.

If you experience fear at times, you are not alone. You know who else experienced fear? Moses, Joshua, David, Ruth, Esther, Job, Solomon, Daniel, All of the Prophets, all of the Disciples, Paul, and Jesus.

God does not abandon us in our times of fear. He promises to help us and to strengthen us. The covenant God made with you is unconditional.

When God says “I will hold you up with my victorious right hand,” He is talking about His hand of righteousness. He is saying “I AM faithful to my promises.” The Great I AM is with you.

All of this, everything we have talked about so far, points to one person. Jesus Christ. God’s promises in the Old Testament point towards the ultimate fulfillment of Christ’s assurance to you: “I am with you always.”

2. Perfect Love Expels Fear

1 John 4:18 NLT

18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

God’s perfect love came in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. Up to this point, John has been saying “God is love.” God’s love is an eternal fact that was demonstrated on the cross at Calvary.

As we mature in Christ, as Holy Spirit works in us, we are perfected in His love. This means that as we love one another more and more, God’s perfect love is increasing within us, driving out fear.

It is important to understand that the fear he is talking about here is fear of punishment at the judgement seat. When we live in love toward God, there is nothing to fear on the day of judgement. That knowledge should transform how we approach fear and anxiety in our lives.

Fear will torment us. The Greek word is phobos, which is where we get the word phobia from. With fear, we can enter a mindset where we are always expecting the worst; punishment, suffering, or loss. We are constantly “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” “Something bad is going to happen, something bad is going to happen!”

Instead of waiting for the “other shoe to drop,” let’s remember that God Himself holds us up in His mighty right hand! This life can drop as many shoes as it wants, God’s holding you up in His mighty hand this morning!

In Philippians 4:6-8. the Apostle Paul shows us steps to overcome fear through faith. In three verses, we learn how to grow closer to God and replace fear with peace.

3. Pathway to Peace and Prayer

Philippians 4:6–7 NLT

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Let’s put Philippians 4:6 back up on the screen.

Philippians 4:6 NIV

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Many people will read this verse and their first thought is “easier said than done.” And that is a true statement for many of us! The human heart and mind are so bent toward sin that we find ourselves focused on the negative. It takes practice. It takes time. We have been conditioned by the world, and the LORD is transforming us into the likeness of Christ. It does not happen over night.

I want you to notice something. The Apostle Paul does not just say “Go pray about it.” He tells us how!

There are three key words the Apostle uses in this verse: prayer, petition, and thanksgiving.

Prayer

Petition

Thanksgiving

This is really a great formula for praying.

Prayer is how we approach God. When we are in prayer, we are in worship. We find rest and peace in His presence. We have faith and trust that God is who He says He is. We approach prayer knowing that we are going before the throne of the Great I Am, with reverence and adoration.

Petition or supplication is an earnest and heartfelt sharing of our needs and problems. The Father wants us to be sincere when we are praying. When we read about Jesus praying, He was always earnest in prayer. He wants us to be specific in what we are asking.

God designed us and he knows us better than we know ourselves. When we get what is inside our hearts and minds out, we can start dealing with the problem. Otherwise it stays in us and continues to poison us.

God knows our hearts and our minds. Those fears and doubts we push down or try to hide from. When we bring those things to Him, God knows we are ready to deal with whatever it is. He will give us strength, peace, and help us heal.

Thanksgiving is when we thank the Father. God loves hearing His children say “Thank you.” Do you realize that when Jesus healed the ten lepers, only one returned to say “thank you.”

There are so many things we should be grateful for that we take for granted. If you do not already do this, make a list of your blessings, everything you are grateful for, and thank God for each person or thing on that list. It will absolutely blow you away in how it changes your mindset, your prayer life, and your outlook on life. We are to thank God for who He is and all that He does for us. Let’s look at Philippians 4:7.

Philippians 4:7 NKJV

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This! This is what happens when you have a heart aligned with God’s heart. We experience a peace that can only come from God.

That peace may seem to be only momentary at times. How many of us have found ourselves praying for peace multiple times a day? It does not mean we have failed or that God has failed. It simply means we need more time with Him to heal us and to give us a supernatural shot of His strength and peace.

His peace guards our hearts and minds from the enemy, this world, and sometimes from ourselves. Even in those times when we have crumbled before the enemy or have made mistakes. We seek His peace through prayer, petition, and thanksgiving. Holy Spirit will comfort you and bring you peace, no matter how many times you ask.

I want to close with Philippians 4:8 today. This is a beautiful benediction that inspires the hearts of all believers.

Philippians 4:8 NLT

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

The Apostle Paul knew that the influence of our thoughts on our lives is powerful. When we focus on the bad, the bad is all we think about. When we focus on the good, we find peace.

Something else happens as well. Because we are staying in prayer and focusing on living like Christ, we change.

We think of ways to protect our moral and spiritual health. Our integrity and Christian ethics become a top priority. How we live and how others see us matters. You may be someone’s first or last impression of a Christian.

Worship Team/Alter Call

If you are experiencing fear, anxiety, depression, or pain, bring it to the throne room of the Father this morning. Stop carrying a burden you are not meant to carry. A burden that Christ went to the cross so that you would not have to carry it. Lay it down at the cross and boldly approach the Throne of Grace. The Father loves you. Whatever you may be facing, face it with faith in the Father. Thank Him for who He is and for all He has done.

The alter is always open at Vision of Hope. If you want prayer this morning, we have brothers and sisters who would love to pray with and for you. Simply come forward. Do not let fear stop you.