Faithfulness Fights Fear

Faithfulness Fights Fear

Have you ever feared something so much… and when it finally happened, it wasn’t nearly as bad as you imagined? 

Our level of fear often exceeds the actual .

“Fear is often far worse than the danger itself, and the suffering of anxiety far worse than the suffering which may come.”

– C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Lewis talks of how fear of suffering is damaging to the soul – more damaging than the suffering itself.

Giving in to fear gives it power:

Fear paralyzes us

·        Our decision making

·        We get stuck in uncertainty – unable to move forward or backward

Fear distorts reality

·        Problems seem bigger, solutions seem smaller

·        It clouds judgment, and makes dangers look worse than they are

Fear drains strength:

·        It tires us out emotionally, mentally, and physically.

·        Constant worry or fear saps energy we could use for action or hope.

Fear isolates:

·        It makes people avoid challenges, risks, or relationships.

·        Over time, it can lead to isolation, missed opportunities, and regret.

Fear damages faith and trust in God:

·        Fear says, “What if God isn’t enough?” — subtly pulling us away from trusting Him.

·        It makes us lean on our own (limited) strength instead of resting in God’s promises.

Fear fuels unhealthy emotions:

·        It often leads to anger, frustration, anxiety, or despair.

·        It can even cause people to act selfishly or harm relationships out of self-protection.

John 20:19–23 (NLT) ¹⁹ That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.

Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. ²⁰ As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!

²¹ Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Matthew 4:19 (NLT2) Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”

Fishing

follows

Faith.

²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Acts 5:12–29 (NLT) ¹² The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.

Action fights fear:

• Action gives clarity: It shows us what’s real instead of imagined.
• Action builds confidence: Each step forward makes the next step easier.
• Action shifts focus: It moves our mind off fear and onto doing something purposeful.
• Action shows trust in God:
  • To do what God do says, “I believe God.”

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but action in spite of it.”

You can’t be courageous unless you’re .

And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.

¹⁴ Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. ¹⁵ As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.

¹⁶ Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

¹⁷ The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

¹⁹ But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, ²⁰ “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”

²¹ So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching.

²⁵ Then someone arrived with startling news: “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!”

²⁶ The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.

“There is nothing to fear from a real trial; it is the imaginary ones that weaken courage.”

– C.S. Lewis — The Screwtape Letters

·        Real trouble often strengthens us — it’s the imaginary fears that knock our legs out from under us.

²⁷ Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!”

²⁹ But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

Imagine a church that truly believed and acted this way. What would it be like?

 “Fear defeats more people than any one thing in the world.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jesus still comes and stands among frightened men and women, and says,

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit.”