Face Your Fears
Now Playing: Are we finding our strength in God ? "perfect love casteth our fear"
Topic: Fear
1 Kings 19:15-16

Then the Lord said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place."

Face Your Fears

Biologists say that fear is not only a universal emotion, but the first of the emotions to be developed in man and beast. If you have ever picked up a baby bird fallen from its nest, you have felt the rapid, terrified beating of its heart. Even though it has had no experience with you or any other person, it is fearful.

All of creation is under the dominion of fear. Man comes into this world stamped with fear before he is born, and those fears are multiplied as he increases in knowledge and experience. But it can be a mistake to make decisions based on fear.

Elijah made the mistake of giving in to his fears—and he fled from his homeland and his responsibilities. But when he renewed his commitment to God on Mount Horeb, the Lord turned him around and sent him back to face what he left behind. God knew the only way Elijah would conquer his fears was to confront them. Running away would never do it.

Many Christians have fled from their duties because of fears. Pastors have left churches, missionaries have come home from the field, mothers and fathers have left their families—all because of their fears: fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of suffering. But we can never overcome our fears if we have our back toward them, running away. We have to face them.

If you have allowed fear to cause you to flee from something you know you should do, turn around and face it. In God's power and by His will, you can have victory over your fears.

Never turn your back on your fears.

(from W. Kroll)

Foolish Fears
Now Playing: What are we afraid of and how can we deal with it ?
Topic: Fear
Author: Woodrow Kroll
Source: Lessons on Living from Elijah
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-3 Philippians 4:19 Psalms 91

Foolish Fears

1 Kings 19:1-3

"And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, 'So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.' And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there."

Foolish Fears

Unfounded fear can cause us great harm. Vance Havner used to tell the story of a man who accidentally wandered into a cemetery one night. When he realized where he was, he got out of there in record time, stumbling over tombstones, falling down and scratching himself in the bushes. The next morning someone asked him, "Don't you know that ghosts can't hurt you?" "I know that," he replied, "but they can sure make you hurt yourself."

Like the man's in the cemetery, Elijah's fears were also unfounded. The same God who kept him safe in the midst of 450 prophets of Baal was certainly able to protect him from the wrath of the wicked Queen Jezebel. Yet his fears caused him to compromise his testimony and prevented God from demonstrating His power against wickedness in high places. Instead of trusting God to protect him, Elijah fled into the wilderness. How foolish!

Did you know that fear is one of the major causes for disobedience among Christians? God's Word is filled with promises of His provision (Phil. 4:19) and our protection (Ps. 91). Yet we often fail to accomplish God's will because we are afraid that we will be physically harmed or financially humbled in the process. This is foolish as well.

Are you facing fear today? Perhaps you are afraid of losing your job, of developing cancer or being left by your spouse. At times all of us experience fear. But don't allow fear to keep you from being used by God. He has kept you thus far; trust Him for the rest of the way.

The only known antidote to fear is faith.

(from W. Kroll)