Hindrance 7: Fear
Job 3:25 "What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded
has happened to me." NIV
We discovered here that although Job was wealthy and had
everything he wanted, he had fears. Fear is the opposite of
faith. Fear is really worrying about tomorrow, instead of
keeping our focus on today! Jesus gives great advice on
that!
Matt 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough
trouble of its own." NIV
Here is a beautiful illustration about handing our fears
over to God:
"Do you ever worry about what might happen in the future? Or
do you find yourself anxious about things over which you
have no control? If so, then a teaching from author and
lecturer Corrie ten Boom may help.
She learned a powerful lesson as a little girl. Having
encountered the cold, lifeless body of a baby, she realized
that the reality of death would someday strike her family,
too. Perhaps her father or mother or sister, Betsy, would
soon die. She anxiously worried about these possibilities
until her father came in one night to tuck her into bed.
Corrie burst into tears and sobbed, "I need you. You can't
die. You can't!"
Her father sat on the edge of the narrow bed and spoke
tenderly to his daughter. "Corrie," he said gently, "when
you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?"
She sniffed a few times and considered the question. "Why,
just before I get on the train," she answered.
"Exactly," he continued. Then he gave her assurance that was
to last a lifetime. He told her that a wise God knows when
she will need things, too. "Don't run out ahead of God," he
cautioned her. "When the time comes that some of us have to
die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you
need -- just in time."
Corrie and her family were sent to concentration camps where
she suffered greatly during World War II. She, indeed, was
to experience the deaths of her parents and sister, as well
as numerous friends. She was to endure hardships which she
could never have imagined as a young child. But the words of
her father stayed with her and proved to be true. "You will
look into your heart and find the strength you need -- just
in time."
Regardless of the suffering or hardship she encountered,
when she looked inside her heart she found the strength she
needed -- just in time.
If you find yourself worried or anxious about an uncertain
future...perhaps you are running ahead. You have not yet
been given the ticket for the journey. And if that thing you
fear should ever arrive, it is then you must look inside
your heart.
The strength you need can be found there -- just in time."
Thanks to Life Support
lifesupport-subscribe@topica.com
See
http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/sermon2/don't_run_ahead_of_god.htm)
Let us stop to be conformed to the mentality of this world
and be stressed over everything You can take authority over
fears in the name of Jesus and be renewed by God's Word:
Rom 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will." NIV
