Intro: 9-1-1- it is an emergency number, it is also a day that will be remembered by this world as a day of tragedy when terrorists flew planes into buildings. It is a day that changed the world, and made this world aware of the word-terror in a new way. People moved from big cities to the country, people bought weapons, people stopped flying in airplanes. Basically, people were afraid of things they never were afraid of before-the bible says, in the last days men’s hearts would fail them for fear. Fear is a real thing.
Some Psychologists list as many as 7000 fears or phobias.
But more important that listing all the different fears, is how do we over-come fear.
Overcoming Fear
Today I would like to give some common fears, and how through God we can overcome them.
• People fear getting old, empty nest, sickness or disease, failure, rejection by others, death, the unknown, changes in life, losing money or security.
Here is the way to overcome any fears:
1. Fear is a stronghold of the mind- (2 Timothy 1:7) God has not given us a spirit of fear—God gives peace, joy and love—Fear is a spirit---Satan tries to bind people by fear.
2. Fear is an opposite of faith— (Hebrews 11:1)Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen—fear is just the opposite—faith sees the opportunity, fear sees the obstacles- faith says I can, fear says I can’t
3. Fear is crippling—paralizing-it is manifested in our lives by stress, worry, burn-out, depression. Fear has torment. It is overcome by the help of the Lord. (Isaiah 40:31)They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
4. Fear is a misunderstanding of God— (Matthew 6:9) Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name. Jesus came to teach us that God is on our side, that we don’t need to worry about tomorrow, because we know who holds tomorrow.
5. Knowing God’s Love is the remedy for fear (I John 4:18)—perfect love casts out fear---knowing God loves us, knowing God cares about us, knowing that God is in control of our lives and this world, will cast out all fear. The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Close: with God we can overcome fear, without God fear will consume our lives. Lady who died of pneumonia in her apartment in Philadelphia—didn’t turn on the heat, tried to cover up with a lot of blankets, was afraid of having a high power bill-she was worth million’s of dollars but died because of this fear.
