When I am Afraid
In 1932 Franklin Delano. Roosevelt was elected to be the new president of the United States. Came in a very difficult time. As you know nation was firmly in the grip of the Great Depression and he had the a lot of pressure to say, the very least in his inaugural address. He said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Is that true?
There was seven more years of depression. Only way the Depression was cleared, was the ramp up to World War 2. Are things going to get better. Historical, you can argue that what Roosevelt's is trying to get in to do the day to do that day, was to emphasize the positive. and reduce the negative hopefully, to the point where he could Inspire confidence and he was able to do many things as a president,
It reminds me over and over again of the reality of fear. You like to read referring your Bible to find places where people are afraid, Abraham is afraid. Moses is afraid to go back to Faro, understandably. Elijah is afraid after Mount Carmel. Peter is afraid when he's walking on the water. Jesus is afraid. The night before and got simony, he experiences fear of the reality of what's fixing to happen to you. And that's an important is an important moment to know that Jesus experience as everything that we experience. But it's also important for us to know that fear itself is not sinful. Sometimes we could be overwhelmed by fear, sometimes we can be beaten down by fear. Sometimes we can be surprised by fear and we say or do something that is sinful beer in another self. It's not wrong there. So many shows Esther and there's a particular reason for that. We know that Esther was a Jew living in Persia, she was Place of the position of being Queen without knowledge by the king or many other people except the clothes in her Circle that she was actually in Jewish. And the time comes, when there is a plot to overthrow and kill all of the Jews that are living in that land and Mordecai goes to her Mordecai is her relative and he said these words with her, do not think because you are in the King's house you alone of all the juice will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arrives from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows? But that you have come to your Royal position for such a time as this Gods placed you in this special moment or as all of the people who were living there, all the Jewish people who live, there are terrified You find yourself in a unique situation, she actually has access to the king. Who would you rather talk to that Lake King? There is a problem though, you don't talk to the king.
Esther after she mulls over what Mordecai has to say, I will go to the key even though it is against the law. If I perish, I perish. This thing is so amazing about Esther is she's doing all this on a prediction. You always one thing when the open, the enemies that the door to rise and meet the enemy, it's one thing when the enemy's on your street to arm yourself and fight, it's one thing than they are entering your property, entering your home in hearing your life. But Mordecai is saying, is I know how this is going to play out. And this is what you do right now and ask her must have thought. Died today. Who knows there might be all kinds of interventions that come along and keep me from actually taking this incredible risk that I'm just about to tell she's making you this action. Basically on information that's being shared with her, go back to Jerusalem and agabus Vines and with his belt as a demonstration, or what's going to happen to him in Jerusalem? If I'll have to go to Jerusalem after that, we did. Also looks like in the book of Acts that the prophecies about the hardships of the people of Judea where other churches donate money to help him in the difficult times. It looks like the contribution start on the prediction. Not on The Happening. And so we kind of sometimes it back in a loss to say, okay, if it really, really, really gets bad. But I'll Stand Up. It really gets clear that this is going to happen. Then I'll do my part. An awesome. God is calling us through the scary times through the fear. Act now. Before. It's too late. I read those who verses from Psalms chapter 56. David is clearly. Being pursued viciously by his enemies. It sounds as though he would have trouble even sleeping at night. He doesn't know when the next moments going to come. He doesn't know when the final battle to begin. He doesn't know when perhaps his life or the life of this pain can be wiped out. And yet he says, this is the passage. I wanted to focus on this morning from Psalms 56:3. When I'm afraid. I put my trust in you.
Are you simple? David says, I'm playing God. I believe you've annoyed me king, I believe you have a plan for your kingdom through my leadership. And because I believe that when I'm scared, when I'm frightened, when I'm terrified, I'm going to take that and I'm going to put that on you. Cuz I believe you could buy it if you could do that. That passage reminds us of the reality of fear.
We are all good, meaning people, but what do we normally do? When somebody else is really afraid, My mother would say, Oh, Daddy versus of the things we worry about us, we never talked about the 10% that did.
There's nothing to be afraid of everything happens for a reason. You can handle it. We have all these platitudes that we share to make people feel better. But there's real fear. there's really Stevenson Bible passages that we misuse to make people feel better instead of helping them Marshal. The forces that got his provide provided soon as I can take on what's coming. Not the best place to start. Would be to try to get, you're really afraid. That's the only that hard to do when I was taking some graduate courses and I'll waste you and work at some in the, in the research group here. We had a professor who would just go around murdering ethics at the subjects who were afraid with La Cabana room, both spoken to the door and yell fire. Well yeah, that'll work. But it has some aftermath is that process getting people afraid isn't really the eating is really the issue. We can sit around with each other and make each other really afraid of me. Sometimes you do that in our own fear. What's a real Attias?
Lithosphere. Fear Can rise suddenly Will be leaving Houston in our the master bedroom. We had one high window, it was about chest, high on me and went up to the ceiling and it was a great window except sometimes the cat like to sit there as you woke up in the middle of the night, it looks like a head was peering in the window and on more than one occasion, you we could be startled by this sudden fear, it would take over. I can remember my grandfather in the 50s in the early sixties living on the farm. And you know how Oklahoma Skies start to look at the spring? There wasn't enough there for these guys. They didn't turn it on to the local TV. There were some very basic rudimentary things at that point in time, but not much. And certainly not with sophisticated know, sometimes a neighbor would come over that walk up and down the sidewalk together.
Kind of fake friend. Knows this woman ball over. Just going to go north office. Go ahead us.
Sometimes what you see the storms Gathering, I can a hurricane and we know they're coming and we experience hurricanes in our lives. But other times we don't get quite so good morning. Fear also happens, naturally God, foot within the sphere. He wants us to be afraid. We have inside of us a flight or fight response where we get that surge of adrenaline as we choose to do, one of the other, what are the real complications of our world is? It often either are appropriate especially in there. And so what do we do is that fear bubbles up? And for some of you, it probably happens multiple times a day. Especially in worked on situations and it bills us to the place where we become really and truly condition for fear.
So let me know that in 2012. Terry was in a mass shooting. She was waiting on the train to come back from market. And this guy came in the door, he had Thought that someone in his family, his spouse was leaving on the train so he brought a gun and rounds that mean is I didn't get a lot of headlines because there were no fatality that happened at that time a little bit at the beginning. But quickly got to the point where she felt like it would better ways to handle it then too and to share it. But you know, one on a personal basis a lot. What you do from that point on, she never went anywhere publicly that she didn't know where the exit was. All the place where she was sitting in the train station, looked like it had an exit. When you got down that hallway, the door was actually blocked and locked and they were forced to go somewhere else, she's going to restaurant. She can go anywhere and you can see or do I just get up and scope it out? Where are the places? You may have noticed that once Joyce was not able to come to church anymore. She sat right down there. And to get rid talking about that, but I clearly understood that that's an easy exit. Is it terrible that we have to live in that world? My little granddaughter came to me and she said, don't worry about me at school. She goes to school basically. One day a week I've already figured out the ways to get out if somebody came in Hygienic that people have to make those plans, but the reality is fear is all over the place. It can't be ignored, it can't be denied, it has to be dealt with. And God says, simply. Let me have it. He promised to David.
And he says the same thing to us.
I have a friend. I've been cheated many times that I'll miss him again before the session is over a lot, because whenever you say anything, he says it's just a question of Faith versus fear. I'm like I know you're right, I didn't want to hear that today, you know, I was looking for a little more beneficial and he says it's fake. versus fear but his name is David if I said it back to you, but
It's the same thing. You got two basic undeniable choices. You can either be afraid. Or you can have sex.
Sometimes people. Sheer frustration. My lack of confidence in your life and their life is a spiritual life to bring me confidence. I want to feel joy and peace with anxiety. Getting in my way. And that's where God steps in. And he's just, I want you to have peace. And I want you to have the experience of the protection that I provide for you. because, when you shift to that perspective, Then you get to feast. Did you get the confidence? If we're always worried, if we're always being threatened, if we're always in that constant state of worry and concern concern, it's easy to say, I don't feel very good, I don't feel very good about what's taking place here, how can I go out and and rejoice in the Lord? God says, just give it to me. I told you about this before, when the boys were little, they wore tennis shoes at full of tennis shoes off and couldn't get them untied so they can use their teeth so that the real wet and then then bring them to me. The only thing harder than untying shoelaces isn't untying wet. Shoelaces. and we do the same thing to God, we take off our shoes, we take off our worries,
This is just bring him here.
Ultimately Davis conclusion in the very next verse Psalms 56 4.
In God. Whose word I Praise In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals? Do to me.
That's a Great Dividing point. How many of the things you worry about in your life are person oriented? Oh, I'm worried. I might lose my house. Let's Oberle temporal thing as serious as it is, what's the words that people could do to you? I feel fearful that I might lose my job. Terrible thing to have happen. Sure. But what's the worst that these mere mortals? Hindu.
No, my friend all day but also says it's all spiritual. Now that really is irritating when you tell him that you're having trouble with your diet, make it even worse. You know he used to be a rather large guy, he's not anymore and so it really kind of rubs it in the wrong direction. We want to say, things are physical things. And goddesses.
Matthew 28. Verse 8 are 228, says, do not be afraid of Those Who Kill the body. But cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul. And Body in hell. Jesus says, the only being fear is reserved for is not fear itself.
Gazi, only person who impact your soul and if it's not your soul.
It's mere mortals. Now when I, when I looked up that passage, I knew it was Franklin, Delano Roosevelt. But when I looked it up for some images about Three-fourths of the images credit that saying to Winston Churchill. Sounds like something that Winston Churchill would say he probably did. You know, we might have borrowed it at some point in time. He was rather famous for that.
Like this statement better, fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision. Spoken like a true Soldier. Because that's what his background was. And that's what we're called to be recalled. To be the Lord's, army a soldier for the Lord, and if we're going to do that, you're so many times of fear. There's going to be times. Going to be brave enough, they're going to be times that we're going to be threatened. They're going to be times when we're going to need to sacrifice as God calls us to sacrifice. But he also says he was, I'll give you the resources, I'll give you the training, I'll give you the support, I'll give you the network. It allows you to do that.
Would you play with me?
You're going to be thank you for your power. We know your power is everywhere. We know that your power is in a more than we even understand more than we can practice. Father. Today, we just asked if the fear of men, fear of the world, fear of the temporal things would not overwhelm us. Especially not to the point where the trust that we having you is minimized. Help us to fully and completely.
Trust in you. Help us to be ready to do the things that you would ask us to do. We pray this to your son, Jesus. Amy.
It's funny you find yourself in a place spiritually where things need to be different in your life. If there's a way that we could assist you in that process, would be delighted to do. So just make that known. What we can sing a song together?
