Fear reformed

Je 1:4-9 - Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

The issue for Jeremiah was fear. Fear of being to be young and fear of not knowing how to speak. God addresses this fear by ensuring him that God would do the sending, the giving of words and the delivering. The only thing that Jeremiah had to worry about was not being afraid. We can’t forget that Ephesians 2:10 says that God has created us in Christ Jesus to do good works which He has prepared in advance for us, each, to do. Not only had He a call on Jeremiah’s life, he also has a call on our lives. He will see to it that we are sufficiently equipped to do His works for Him, but we must trust and not fear. And, yet, there are more than 25 more times in the book of Jeremiash that God has to utter these same words: “Fear Not!” God is both firm and gracious in his reminding of us of his His sovereignty and sufficiency.

Jdg 7:1-3 - Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

This is such an amazing story of how God decimated Gideon’s army so that God would get the glory and not the Israelites. And, it is even more amazing that the first and most decisive blow was the 22,000 people who left because they feared. I wonder what we miss out on because of fear, and how displeasing this must be to God. I am thankful that Jeremiah obeyed even in his fear.

Fear leads to peace

Is 54:11-14 - “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

This is a wonderful promise of the new millennium and the promise of all that is to come. But, I also think it give us a command for today. How often we are afflicted and storm-tossed and not comforted. It is like being in the boat with Jesus who is sleeping in the storm while we are worried and fearful and uncomforted. When Jesus calmed the waters, what was his rebuke, but that they lacked faith. The command of God is for us not to fear and the promise is that His righteousness will be established through our trials and in our trials. It is true that for now we experience life in the storm, but we have a hope in this storm that has power enough to calm our storm and calm us in our storms.

1 Ki 18:2-5 - So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.) Ahab had said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”

This is a great story of fearless living in a fearful time. Obadiah feared God only and thus trusted God in the storm that he was living in. This a great application to the truth of what we are learning. When we fear God only, it enables us to be free from the oppression of evil and shame, and to be at peace.

The answer to Fear

Is 54:4-8 - “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.

This verses explains the reasons for our fears. We fear being ashamed, confounded and disgraced. What comforting words to Israel and ultimately to us that our Father is committed to us wholly and abundantly. He is our redeemer, our husband and the God of the whole earth. He longs to have compassion in us even in our worst unfaithfulness. If we don’t ever need to fear when we are doing good and when have done bad, we truly never have to fear.

1 Ki 8:41-43 - “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

A prayer for the foreigner that God would act on his behalf for the purpose of people knowing His name and Fearing God. When we don’t fear God, we have reason to fear God. Fearing God leads to knowledge and understanding of how life runs and how we should live our lives. Fear disrupts and focuses on us instead of focusing on Him. Fearing God leads to not being ashamed, confounded or disgraced. Fearing God is the answer to not fearing the world.

Don't forget...

Is 51:12-13 - “I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass, and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy?

Again, the theme keeps coming back that when you know God, truly know God, and remember him in fearful situations, you will realize that there is nothing to fear. It is when we forget the Lord, the one who is eternal and never dies, and the one who created the heaven and the earth, that we lose the perspective that if God is for us, who can be against us. Not only do we have nothing to fear, but we also have a God who comforts us in hardship and pain.

1 Ki 8:37-40 - “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple— then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

Because the would forget so often that God is Lord, he allowed the Israelites to experience his discipline for the express purpose of instilling a healthy fear in Him in the the land that was given to them. It is so clear how important fear is to our relationship with God and our growth as believers. Fearing God is what keeps us from forgetting God is what keeps us from fearing man.

75 days of Fear (not)

We have finished 75 days of learning about fear (not)! If you want to look at a list with all the verses in order that the verses have appeared, please click here! If you want verses in canonical order (from Genesis to Revelation), click here!

Thanks for journeying with me through this!

Focusing on God for perspective in Fear

December 31

Is 51:6-9 - Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool; but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations.”

These verses which begin taking place in the tribulation setting the stage for a renewed earth during the Millennium should give us amazing confidence in the place of fear. Since we know the future, we can remain fearless in the present. Salvation is forever for those who know righteousness in Christ, for those whose heart has been reborn to know and understand and delight in the words of God. When this supernatural work has occurred in a life of sinful person, what are we to fear?

2 Sa 7:22-24 - “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God.

Though this verse does not have the words fear in it, we get the picture of what true fear looks like. Fear involves recognizing the character of who God truly is: great, Sovereign, Lord, unique, loving, and eternal. Fear not because you have been chosen by God to be with Him forever. Fear Him only and you will never need to fear anything on earth!

A fear that leads to humility

Is 44:6-8 - Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

Why are we not to fear? The Lord, the King, the Redeemer, the first, the last, the only God who knows what is to come and what will happen has told us, “Fear not!” There is no Rock like our Rock. There is nothing as sure as God. As we remember our God in the midst of fear, we gain perspective that virtually replaces our fear from that on earth to the fear of our God in Heaven. We have heard it from Him. We are not to fear.

Ps 55:19 - God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.

The promise is that we will be humbled if we do not change and do not fear God. We should be changed by the fear of God. It should change how we see our future, interact with people and deal with situations. It is prideful to fear because when you fear you are relying on yourself. God gives us none other than himself as the solution for all life’s problems and worries. And as we humble ourselves in the fear of God, he will exalt us as James 4:10 promises, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”