Overcoming Fear With Faith

Replacing Fear with Faith

Grant van Boeschoten

November 2, 2008

Main Thought: Fear subtracts from life, but Faith expands who we are and what we can do.

Romans 15:13 (NIV)

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That verse is my prayer for you today. I believe that God has got a gift of faith that he wants to give you today, and God has got a gift of hope that he wants to give you today.

It is God’s will that we are filled with ALL joy and ALL peace as we trust in God, FOR THE PURPOSE OF overflowing with HOPE and this can only happen by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There was a lady who died in 1916 name Hetty Green. She was called America’s greatest miser. When she died in 1916, she left an estate valued at $100 million. But she was so miserly that she ate cold oatmeal in order to save the expense of heating the water. When her son had a severe leg injury, she took so long trying to find a free clinic to treat him that his leg had to be amputated because of advanced infection. I am sure she was worried about losing her wealth, so she didn’t even enjoy her life!!

Because of Jesus Christ we have the riches of heaven promised to us, but many times fear will stop us from living in the abundant life that Jesus Promised to us.

I am reminded of the story of the Mother who was very concerned for the safety of her children while the were going to school. The school was located in an area of the city where the drivers did not heed the school zone speed limit. Because the police were not taking action, this mother decided to take matters into her own hands.

She decided that she would put the fear of a speeding ticket in the speeding drivers going past a local elementary school. Every morning she would park her car in front of the elementary school and point her black hair dryer - shaped like a radar gun, out of the window at speeding cars. The effect was dramatic as drivers slowed down fearing they might receive a speeding ticket.

You see fear is a very influential thing. It can cause drivers to slow down for fear of a ticket, and it can cause you and I to grind our lives to a stop for any number of fears.

Here are some of the effects that fear can have on your life.

• Experience lack of enthusiasm. (Life just isn’t exciting and purposeful anymore)

• We have unfocused thoughts (All we can think about is what we fear.)

• Keeps us from interacting with others. (All we want to do is be alone and deal with it by ourselves.)

• Keeps us from getting anything done. (All we are consumed with is the fear.)

• Eventually turns into ungodly behavior. (Because we don’t know how to deal with it in a healthy way we turn to unhealthy ways of coping.)

• Causes health problems. (This fear & anxiety puts a tremendous strain on our bodies. Causes abdominal trouble, tension of the muscles, pressure in the head.)

• Can cause premature death. (Wears the body down. Fear can keep you from getting medical help. If you have a disease that can only be corrected by surgery and you are afraid of surgery what is going to happen?)

• Chips away at our intimacy with God. (We see God as having caused this. We see him as being mean to us.)

But the Bible says that Fear is not God’s plan for your life. 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Fear subtracts from life, but Faith expands who we are and what we can do.

How do we Overcome Fear with Faith?

1. Respond Rather Than React

Two gas company service men, a senior training Supervisor and a young trainee were out checking meters and parked their truck at the end of the alley and worked there way to the other end. At the last house a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. As they finished the meter check the older supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the alley back to the truck. As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath she said, "When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figured I had better run too."