Fear Factor Versus Faith Factor

PRAYER

Father, open my eyes to see Your Word.

Open my ears to hear.

Open my mind to understand.

And open my heart so I may receive Your Word today.

AMEN

I don’t think anyone would argue that there is a fear factor in the day and age we are live in.

Let me explain that statement.

All around us there are threats of violence. We see it in the news all the time. Threats of terrorism, threats of wars, man made threats, natural threats, threats of financial ruin and all sorts of others threats. Those threats cause fear.

I remember back in the 80’s and 90’s people were afraid of the African killer bees that were coming to America, then we all became afraid of global warming, and last year everyone was afraid of the pandemic swine flu. It seems the news media can really manipulate our fear factor.

Fear can be a disabling emotion. It can hinder a person and stop them from doing the things they want to do or need to do.

Fear in the United States is the biggest reason that over 60 million people in the United States receive prescriptions for tranquilizers every year according to FDA estimates.

Webster’s Dictionary defines fear as; anxiety and agitation caused by the presence of danger, evil, or pain. It is a feeling of uneasiness or apprehension.

Let’s be honest with each other this evening, we all have something that we are afraid of.

I will start. My fear, I am afraid of heights. It is a fear that I have had to work hard at to overcome. I would never have made it on the show Fear Factor.

I have had jobs that required me to be in some very uncomfortable places. I have worked as a bridge worker, I have worked at roofing houses and of course as a fireman.

I had to meet my fear of heights head on so I could overcome it. And yes, I still have a problem with heights.

What are some of the things you are afraid of?

Another word for fear is phobia. A phobia is an irrational, persistent fear of something.

I looked up some interesting phobias.

Acrophobia – the fear of heights.

Hylophobia – the fear of the forest.

Technophobia – the fear of technology.

Triskaidekaphobia – the fear of the number 13.

Pyrophobia – the fear of fire.

Abluthophobia – the fear of bathing.

Arachnophobia – the fear of spiders.

Claustrophobia – the fear of closed spaces.

Gamaphobia – the fear of marriage.

Pentheraphobia – the fear of your Mother-in-Law.

There are some religious phobias, and I hope none of you suffer from any of these.

Ecclesiophobia – the fear of church buildings.

Homilophobia – the fear of sermons.

Hadephobia – the fear of hell.

Hamartophobia – the fear of sinning.

Satanophobia – the fear of Satan.

Some other phobias that I found interesting were;

Lachanophobia – the fear of vegetables. I bet they hate the Veggie Tales.

Caligynephobia – the fear of beautiful women.

Phalacrophobia – the fear of becoming bald.

Scelerophobia – the fear of bald men.

And lastly, there is the fear of everything which is Panophobia and there is the fear of phobias which is phobophobia.

Let’s face it there is a lot of fear in the world; fear of getting hurt, fear of failing, financial fears, dying fears, loosing fears, and all sorts of others fears.

People are afraid but we don’t have to be afraid. We don’t have to live in fear.

More than two thousand years ago, Jesus’ disciples knew what it was like to experience fear and worry as they faced an uncertain future.

Jesus said something they really hadn’t heard Him say before. He told them He would be leaving, and it turned their world—as they knew it—upside down.

But then He went on to share some words to calm their troubled hearts. The words that Jesus spoke to them in John 14 ring just as true in light of world events today and can calm our troubled hearts as well as they did when He first spoke them.

"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:1–3 NKJV

Jesus starts by saying, "Let not your heart be troubled." Another way to translate this phrase is, "Don’t be agitated or disturbed or thrown into confusion." He didn’t say, "Mull over your problems." He didn’t say, “Be freaked out.” Jesus said, "Don’t be troubled."