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Fear Not from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Today I want to talk about fear, and the importance of pressing on even though we are afraid. When God calls you to do something, often fear is the first guardian that will be sent to stop you from accomplishing it. The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and told him this in his second letter:

Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 NKJV

Paul had laid his hands on Timothy, prayed for him, and God had given Timothy spiritual gifts, possibly prophecy, the word of knowledge, like those that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8. But Timothy was apparently hesitant to use them. Maybe he was not as bold as Paul. Not many are. Paul was once preaching in a town when they got angry, formed a mob, stoned him, then dragged him out of town and left him for dead. After some disciples gathered around him and prayed, he got back up, dusted himself off, and went back into town (Acts 14:19). Paul urged Timothy to not let fear hold him back, because it would try to.

Fear is the guardian of the treasure chest. Anytime that God has something good in store for you, there will be a fear to overcome. If you want to be used by God, then you will have to overcome these fears.

Fear was in the air when David walked out to meet Goliath. Fear was in the furnace of fire when Shadrach stood on the edge. Fear was in the lion’s den when Daniel was thrown in with them. Fear tested Gideon, Joshua, Moses, Abraham, Peter, Elijah. They all overcame it and lived their destiny.

“Fear Not” is a very common theme in scripture. The phrases “Do not fear” or “Fear not” occur 62 times in the New King James version of the Bible:

I can tell you from experience that God will put you into scary situations and teach you to depend on Him in order to get through it. Back when computers used a command prompt and no one had Internet, the Lord began to push me into my own computer repair business. I have always been fascinated by computers since I was a kid, but the Lord didn’t give me a computer. Instead, I began attracting scrap parts like a magnet. After work, I would stay out in the garage until two in the morning playing with them, assembling them in various configurations until I had the fastest build possible. My first whole computer was in a cardboard box which I cut some holes in the front for the two floppy disk drives, a power switch, and did some decorating on it with a magic marker.

Networked computers were especially rare then, and most of us had never seen one. As word of my hobby began to spread, the Lord began to have businesses call me and ask me to come help them. They would somehow get my number from the friend of a friend. There would always be the fear of failure and I would want to tell them no, but when I would pray about it, I could hear the Holy Spirit say “Go and I will go with you.” If I would just go, then he would guide me through the rest.

It was my hands doing the work, but it was His mind with the answers. It was a golden time where it seemed that I could not fail, and sometimes simply touching the computer would fix it. The more that I learned, the more that He increased the difficulty of the challenges that came. Soon I was dealing with corrupted networked databases and eventually load balancing mail server farms in data centers.

It was much the same with music and overcoming the fear of playing in front of crowds. These things prepared me for what we are doing now. Today we use the computer skills, the music and sound equipment experience, the time that I spent in Bible College, all here at Refreshing Hope to do this. And I can tell you that fear was there at every point along the way trying to stop me.

The Lord is behind us like a Coach pushing us forward, pointing out opportunities, encouraging us to trust Him. Just as Peter walked on the water while eleven others stayed in the boat, if you want to fulfill your destiny, you cannot let fear hold you back. It comes in so many types: fear of failure, fear of man, fear of what someone might think. But the purpose is always the same, to paralyze you. Moses told Joshua this:

Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. “The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:7-8 NASB.

When Joshua entered the promised land, there was fear at every turn, but he was to press on anyway. The Lord told him that He would give him every inch of ground that he set his foot on, but if Joshua didn’t go, he wouldn't get anything. Don’t let fear keep you from trusting God.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me overcome fear in my life. Protect me from deception, give me a clear vision, and help me make the right decisions. I put my trust in You. My life is Yours, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.

Note: We can never say it enough, but many thanks to all of you who bless us each week with your encouragement, participation, and support of our ministry, devotionals, and online church! Y'all bless us more than we can say! Also, for those interested, you can support the ministry by listing Refreshing Hope Ministries as your charitable organization at Amazon Smile. No obligation to do so, of course, just something we post now and then, for those who may not know about it :). Thank you all so much and have a blessed day!