“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4
Having spent all of my conscious years encountering new fears or enslaved by old ones, I could barely contain a laugh when I would see the “No Fear” t-shirts or decals on kids or cars. Does that make them tougher than I, who am chock full of fears but not afraid to admit it? Are they more manly than I because they try to convince themselves that they are without fear with their clothing and unfounded confidence, but in reality are shackled with fears on every level and in every arena?
This verse in Psalms was written by one of the toughest men who ever lived, King David, and it warms my heart. I hope it warms yours as well. David was not without fear, but he refused to live in submission to it. The mighty men of Israel feared Goliath more than they trusted God and they came oh so close to living in slavery as a result. But David trusted God more than he feared Goliath and he went forward in spite of his fears.
God knows we will have fears, yet he calls us to be faithful. As your trust in God grows then fears will fall by the wayside as you realize the depth of his love for you. First John 4:18 tells us that, “perfect love drives out fear…”
To those looking on, faithfulness may give the impression that you have no fear and that is okay. What it really is, though, is living free, available and abandoned, trusting him at his word that says, “Never will I leave you and never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5. The enemy loves to play on our fears, especially our fear of death, fear of failure or fear of confrontation, in order to keep us from this availability and abandonment to God. David wasn’t delivered from some of his fears, he was delivered from all of them. What say we join him? Let’s seek the Lord regarding our fears and ask him to put us on a path of victory to overcome them.
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6
Pastor Doug
