Last Thursday, I talked about 5 Practical Ways To Rid Fear (Click Here) to catch up if you missed out on Part 1 of our series on “Saying Goodbye: A 4 Part Series on Fear”.
by fear/cowardice in the bible, and those who had courage.
If we changed our “faces” throughout the day, I think that we could safely say that we’d exhaust all of them, at some point.
We are emotional beings; God made us that way. BUT, He gave us a choice on what we set our affection/mind on. Colossians 3:1-2 (Set it on things above); 2 Corinthians 10:5 (Stay your mind on Christ); Isaiah 26:3 (He promises to keep you in perfect peace if you do this); Philippians 4:8-9 (Think on truth from God’s Word).
It is a lie that we can’t control our emotions, that we have every right to talk the way we do to that person that wronged us, to our spouse that just doesn’t know how to be sympathetic to a menstruating woman; hasn’t he learned by now?! (Sound familiar)
You and I may not be able to help feeling the strong, and very real emotions that we face each day; but we do have a choice as to how we will deal with them. (I have to remind myself of this).
So, when we are fearful, we must choose to believe TRUTH; the truth found in God’s Word.
God’s Word says “Do not be afraid” – John 14:27. It says “Don’t worry about anything” – Philippians 4:6.
How did she do this? By being a good wife and mother; she trusted her Savior. She had never seen rain, yet trusted in God, and submitted to her husband. She raised 3 sons in an ungodly, and perishing world; the sound of smashing metal in her ears, day after day; yet she chose to be a faithful follower of Christ, and example of Courage/Faith to her 3 boys.
causing her to be disobedient: Sarah
Genesis Chapters 15 -21
The wife of Abraham. She agreed with her husband to lie about her real relationship with him. Pharaoh took her in as one of his concubines. All the promises in the scriptures are given to us, man or woman. God loves us and he will protect us. Sarah showed her lack of faith and cowardliness in this situation.
Woman, take your protection from God’s promises in His Word,
NOT by what you can see or cannot see.
If your husband is putting you or your family in danger, pray that God will touch his heart if you think he is making unwise decisions. Share your heart/concerns with him but do it with a spirit of submission and humility.
Later in her life, having no child and thinking it was her fault, she asked her husband Abraham to have a child through their servant Hagar (Genesis 16). If only she had WAITED for God’s time. The result of Sarah’s fear (based on her lack of trust in her Sovereign Lord) was trouble in the home (jealousy, hatred, strife, loneliness).
How often do you an I jump ahead and make hasty decisions because of our fearfulness? What about times you’ve blamed your husband for something that you helped to cause, because fear took hold of you?
Faith is the substance of things HOPED FOR, the evidence of things NOT SEEN. (Heb. 11:1)
Speak God’s words and promises constantly over yourself and over your family and children. There is POWER in God’s Word! His Word does not, and will not, come back void!
His Word is QUICK and POWERFUL, sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder! WOW! (Heb. 4:12)
Initially Sarah did not believe God’s promises to her (Genesis 17: 17-18, Genesis 18: 11-12) . She even laughed, thinking about even the possibility of having a child at such an old age.
Her longing and desire for a child was very real, very deep. She finally chose to keep trusting her faithful God. She believed that God was a rewarded of those that diligently seek Him. (Heb. 11:6)
So ladies, let us choose to be a “Noah’s Wife” and not a “Sarah”. It is better to trust God and leave it in His hands, then rush ahead of him and suffer a life of misery because of our lack of faith and trust in God.
When a man is no longer afraid, but is prepared to welcome whatever comes, because he sees in it the appointment of a loving Father, why, then he is in a happy state; from a sweet fountain of thought, we shall have sweet waters of talk.~ Charles H. Spurgeon
Please come back next Thursday for Part 3 of our series on FEAR.
Matthew 10:29-30 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs on your head are all numbered! So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
