To Fear or not to Fear

The New King James Version Chapter 41

8 “But you, Israel, are My servant,

Jacob whom I have chosen,

The descendants of Abraham My friend.

9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,

And called from its farthest regions,

And said to you,

‘You are My servant,

I have chosen you and have not cast you away:

10 Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Our Scripture this morning clearly points out that the people of God should not allow the stumbling block of fear to be our main focus in the experiences of life.

We should’t be constantly riddled with anxiety and worried about the things that threaten our lives and happiness.

God’s people should have courage when facing the challenges of this world, because God has promised to be with us every step of the way.

A lot is said in scripture in relation to fear. There are two major aspects that I wish to cover this morning. Cowardly Fear as in being afraid or fearful, and Godly Fear as in having fearful reverence to God.

2. Body

Cowardly fear

defined as “an unpleasant attitude of anxiety or distress, caused by concern over an awareness and/or reality of danger or threat to one’s future.’

Fear is not always something that is just in our heads. Some have used the anagram Fear as False Evidence Appearing Real.

While it is true that a lot of the circumstances that we face may cause us to be afraid unnecessarily, many of the fears we have are from genuine threats that we face. It doesn’t matter whether those threats come from economic troubles, the people of the world, health concerns or even death.

Over the years Gallup polls have asked public opinion on a variety of subjects. One of the subjects asks about the most urgent health problem facing our country, this has been asked a total of 26 times since 1987.

It has at times listed different concerns that many Americans have had from Healthcare costs, to healthcare access, and the highest percentage stated in 1987 was attributed to AIDS at 62%.

The most recent Gallup poll states that Sixty-nine percent of Americans name COVID-19 specifically, or "viruses" generally, as the most urgent health problem facing the United States

This past year all the way up to this last month have presented many people in our country and around the world with an over -abundance of reasons to be fearful.

From not just a worldwide pandemic, but the resulting shutdown, job losses, the loss of friends and loved ones. Violent protests and Riots.

Today a lot of people are afraid of not just what has already taken place but many people are unsure about the future. No matter what your political standings are, there are many of us that have very real concern about the direction our country is headed;

politically, economically, and whether this virus is going to continue to be a major problem even as they roll out all the vaccines.

God doesn’t want us to be Afraid.

God is always with us.

Reverential fear will lead to courage