Put Aside Your Fear And Trust In God
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?
(Psalm 56:3-4)
Fear is a very powerful and effective weapon in the hands of the wrong people. Through fear, people can be intimidated to do what others want them to do. The enemy can utilize fear to get us to stop in our tracks and not move any further, especially when we are doing something for the Lord, like cleaning ourselves up, overcoming strongholds, and leading others to Christ..
We must realize that there will always be people in our lives that may try to use fear and intimidation to get us to do what they want us to do, which may not always be good for us. But as the scripture in Psalm 56 states “In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”
When we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, though we will still encounter difficulties and persecution, we know that our eternal life with Him is secure. Though our life on this earth is short, what we have to look forward too with Jesus is great.
I’ve heard some people say “the devil isn’t after you, you aren’t that important”. This simply is not true nor biblical. Ephesians 6:10-13 states the following:
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
The enemy is always looking for a way to take captive the children of God through different means such as idolatries (cellphones, addictions, sexual immorality, money, material possessions, etc), our emotions (anger, fear, rejection, unworthiness, doubt, fear, etc), and anything else that he can use to remove our sight off of God a onto other things. 1 Peter 5:8 also states:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Just as it is dangerous to think the devil is around every corner, it is just as dangerous, if not more so, to think that we have nothing to worry about and that he is not after us. The Bible clearly tells us to be watchful. If he wasn’t a problem, the Bible would not be warning us about him. But God gives us hope and authority! We know that we are not exempt from having trials and problems, yet we also know the devil will utilize those problems to put fear into our hearts. At times like these, we must remember what the Bible states in Psalm 34:17:
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
In Luke 10:19, we see that Jesus gives us authority over all the power of the enemy:
Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Though we are to be watchful, we are not to fear. We serve a great and powerful God who watches over us and will never let us go. We must be alert to the tactics of the enemy especially when thoughts of doubt and fear come into our minds. How do we combat those thoughts? The same way Jesus did out in the desert…by combating them with scripture.
What is causing you to fear and doubt today? What situation or person has you worried or concerned. Take it to the Lord in prayer and then watch what our great God will do with it. I promise, you won’t be disappointed. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand. He will be your shield and defense. Just when the enemy or that person speaks another word to cause you to feel fear or doubt, God will come to your defense.
The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down with darkness under His feet. And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind. (Psalm 18:4-10)
He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. (Psalm 18:16-19)