CONFRONTING AND CONQUERING YOUR FEARS
By Frank Eiklor and Cecilia Contreras
LESSON 25 Part 3
INTRODUCTION
This is the third and final lesson on confronting and conquering your fears. If you missed the first two parts, go back and study them first. Then these three last steps will complete the subject and you will be ready for a successful counter-attack against any attack of Satan. In brief, the first three steps in our action plan were: 1) Love is the key; 2) Identify your fears; and 3) Don’t buy Satan’s lies.
4. FOCUS ON THE CROSS
What about the fear of rejection and what other people will think of you? There is no way to be a real Christian and not experience rejection. In the ministry, sometimes people love you—sometimes they hate you. You think you have a loyal colleague only to find that when the newness wears off or the going gets tough, he tells you, “God is leading me elsewhere.” (And at times, that’s true.)
Those moments can be misunderstood by the uninformed who might tell you, “If you were in the will of God, how come ‘so and so’ left you?” It’s easy to justify yourself. I know. I’ve done that. But now I’m learning to just love, and always speak good of the other person, and commit what other people do or say to the Lord. Besides, time is on the side of love and truth. If you have done nothing to be ashamed of and another person lies about you, time and events have a way of vindicating.
Realize that you’re called to love—even if sometimes that love has to have the teeth of a corrective rebuke that may be misunderstood and used against you. It’s hard to quietly suffer rejection by another. It’s easy to want to get revenge. But the payment for getting revenge is too big a price to pay. No peace! A cold relationship with Jesus!
Instead, take a walk and sit down somewhere as if you’re at the foot of the cross. Then just look up into those loving, forgiving eyes as Jesus hangs there saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do,” (Luke 23:34). Measure everything you go through by what Jesus suffered (Hebrews 12:1-3) and your fears of rejection will be replaced by an acceptance and even an embracing of suffering. The key is to make sure you’re not suffering for some foolish or unkind word or deed you’ve done. And even if that’s the case, apologize and go on from there.
5. USE THE WORD OF GOD
What about the fear of murder, robbery or sexual assault? We live in a vile world, and it isn’t getting better. What’s the answer? Again, make sure you’re in God’s will. That will also mean using common sense, such as not walking through a city park at midnight or allowing my wife or daughter to jog alone down a deserted road.
But the bottom line is Scripture guaranteeing my constantly being in the presence of the Lord, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee,” (Psalm 56:3); “Fear not; for I am with you…” (Isaiah 41:10); “The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear him, and delivers them,” (Psalm 34:7).
Use wisdom in your life by taking proper precautions. Don’t be greedy by having too many earthly goods for thieves to steal. Instead, constantly check to make sure you’re both keeping and giving according to the will of God. By claiming the Lord as your shield and bodyguard, you can quiet that fear of evil people. But catch the thought behind this point because “faith without works is dead," (James 2:26). I must cooperate with God by doing the human things He expects, in order to help develop new habits to counteract fear. For example, as I grow older, I’m still disciplining myself to sharpen my intellect, to keep my body in shape, and to reach for new heights in the Word of God and greater closeness with the Lord. That is simply the disciplining of body, mind and spirit to conform to the will of God (Hebrews 12:1,2; I Corinthians 9:24-27).
Recognize that you are constantly being talked to by two voices throughout the day (and sometimes the night). The voice of God speaks with love, joy and peace. The voice of Satan comes as doubt, worry and fear. These voices are like radio waves—you can tune them in or out. Obviously, Satan’s voice can be very insistent. One of your main methods of attacking fear is to resist the devil. When his fear pierces your soul and won’t let up, you’ll find that if you cower, those fears will only grow worse.
Instead, counter-attack Satan according to James 4:7; “Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you.” “Satan, this fear comes from you and has no place in God or me. I will not accept it. Take your fear of (name that fear) and get out of here—NOW! I resist you in the name of Jesus Christ, for it is written…” (and then quote a verse of Scripture as a direct answer to that fear).
For example, if I find myself fearing the future, I resist Satan in the name of Jesus and quote God’s orders to me: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,” (Matthew 6:34). Or two of my other favorite scriptures to resist worry or fear are Romans 8:38,39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Satan fears the name of Jesus and the Word of God—especially when both are used by a vigilant Christian who will not be choked by fear.
6. ONE STEP AT A TIME
The only way to break fear’s grip is to face that fear and, if it’s something God wants you to do, do it even if it’s one tiny step at a time. For example, I knew God was calling me to stand by the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. The problem? All of my past years of ministry to the Gentiles had left me rather ignorant concerning the Jews. What to do? I immediately went to work reading, researching and taking helpful courses. I studied the Bible and history from a Jewish perspective. Every time I learned something, I tried to transmit it to others which made it more real in my own life. I met Jewish people and I asked them questions about their sufferings (the Holocaust) and their fears (of antisemitism). I also read as much about Israel as I could and then journeyed there. My fears, resulting from lack of knowledge, vanished and what had been a weak area of my life was transformed into one of my greatest strengths.
Do you see what I mean? The longest journey begins with a single step—and that includes the journey out from fear and into faith. Remind yourself that God loves you in spite of your problems. He possesses the number one evaporator of all fear—and that is His love. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment…” (I John 4:18). That’s the secret—God’s love in your life that pushes fear out of doors. Sometimes this is done quickly and other times it’s a painfully slow process. We’re all made differently.
CONCLUSION
I told you this lesson would not be complicated. I have shared some of my fears. I’m learning to face every fear that comes my way by finding out what God says in His Word and then obeying Him. I’m tasting the thrill of breaking fear’s grip. My prayer is that you, too, will enjoy today as “the first day of the rest of your life” and learn, step-by-step, through trial and error, that fear need retain no hold on your life. If God is for you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31).
