Facing Fear with Confidence, Pt 2
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Nelson Mandela said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” You will never be able to remove the presence of fear completely. You cannot avoid all fearful situations. But with God you can triumph over fear. With God you can conquer your fear. If you learn to exercise confident trust in God you can live your life and not be afraid.
We began this morning learning how to do that from . Let’s turn back there again tonight. Stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word.
Recap context of David in Gath
I. Exercise confident trust in God’s character.
II. Exercise confident trust in God’s Word.
Tonight we are going to see two more ways we can exercise confident trust in God in the face of fear.
III. Exercise confident trust in God’s care. (Vv 8-9)
III. Exercise confident trust in God’s care. (Vv 8-9)
tossings - restlessness (imagine tossing and turning with fear and anxiety)
NLT - “you keep track of all my sorrows”
tears in your bottle - wineskin (God remembers every occasion of suffering)
in your book - God has a record of every fear and pain!
God’s care is expressed in confidence:
V 9 - expresses faith that his enemies will turn back when he prays to God for help.
“This I know that God is for me!”
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Wife in waiting room as husband undergoes surgery for a cancerous tumor. She’s afraid. She doesn’t know how she’ll survive if something happens to her husband. Gideon Bible with bookmark in it. Opens to . “The Lord is my shepherd. . .” God is reminding her that he will always be there to care for her, even in the valley of the shadow of death.” She prays through her tears to thank God for caring for her so deeply. And his peace begins to wash over her.
Let this sink in: God cares deeply for you!
Let this sink in: God cares deeply for you!
Would God send his Son if this were not so?
God is not deaf to your cries. He is not oblivious to your pain. He knows every fear, every hurt, every pain. If you don’t believe that you will live in constant fear and doubt.
He loves ME! And that makes all the difference!
IV. Exercise confident trust in God’s Son. (Vv 12-13)
IV. Exercise confident trust in God’s Son. (Vv 12-13)
“must perform my vows” - Obligation. Apparently made a vow in anticipation of God’s deliverance and victory.
“thank offerings” - song of thanksgiving/praise; doxology. One could bring a “thank-offering” (or “praise-offering”) in which he would make declarations of praise to God as he offered his sacrifice.
God’s deliverance is the reason he feels obligated to offer thank offerings.
One could bring a “thank-offering” (or “praise-offering”) in which he would make declarations of praise to God and/or confession of sin to God as he offered his sacrifice.
God rescued him from the fearful situation so that he might walk before God in the light of life.
walk before God - “in front of” (live in God’s sight)
light of life - light is truth/right
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The ultimate deliverance from all fears is ours only in Christ.
I am in Christ! This is where real confidence comes from.
Believers have been delivered from the domain of darkness.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Think about the students at Littleton, CO who were killed because they professed to be Christians. Two girls that we know of. In the face of almost certain death neither hesitated to confess their faith openly to their killers. How is that possible? Why not paralyzed by fear. Maybe .
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Big Idea: When you are afraid exercise confident trust in God.
Big Idea: When you are afraid exercise confident trust in God.
Big Idea: When you are afraid exercise confident trust in God.
Big Idea: When you are afraid exercise confident trust in God.
Fear is inconsistent with a life of faith in Jesus Christ. In a world that desperately needs to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ fear will shut your mouth. When you ought to take a stand fear will cause you to do and say nothing. Fear will keep you from taking risks for the gospel and the glory of God. Fear will paralyze you.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. What I am trying to tell you today is that you can conquer fear if you will exercise confident trust in God. The more you trust God the more your confidence in Him will grow and the more your fear will fade. You can have the confidence to speak for Christ. You can have the confidence to take a stand for Christ. You can have the confidence to attempt great things for Christ. You can conquer fear with confidence in God. Just hear what God is speaking to you today. When you are afraid exercise confident trust in God.