A very favorite passage of scripture of mine is Isaiah 41:10. We read, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
These are comforting words. Notice, five times God uses the personal pronoun “I” in this short verse.
• “I am with thee.”
• “I am thy God.”
• “I will strengthen thee.”
• “I will help thee.”
• “I will uphold thee.”
The reason God used the word “I” so many times we feel so helpless due to the difficulties we face. But He says I AM NOT HELPLESS!
• Many times pastors have chosen to use this verse of scripture by a graveside when a widow has been left alone. She does not know what she is going to do. What a comfort it is to her to hear her God say, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee...”
• Sometimes this passage is read when someone has just gone through a devastating divorce and that person does not know what he is going to do. What a comfort it is to hear God say, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee...”
• Sometimes this passage is read when someone has just been to the doctor and was told he/she had a terminal disease.
What a comfort, again, to hear God say, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee...”
This is one of the most comforting verses of scripture in the Bible.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FEARS THAT PEOPLE HAVE TODAY?
1. SOME FEAR DEATH EVERY DAY OF THEIR LIVES.
That is not very difficult to prove.
Illus: Alfred Krupp, the Prussian manufacturer had such a fear of death, it is said of him that:
• He never forgave anyone who brought up the subject of death in his presence.
• All his employees knew that to bring up the subject of death in his presence would bring immediate dismissal from their jobs.
• A relative of his wife was visiting with them and died suddenly in Krupp’s home. He fled the house in terror.
• His wife later rebuked him for his act and he forsook her and never lived with her again.
• He offered his doctor a sum of one million dollars if he could prolong his life for ten more years.
Of course, no doctor could do that, and he died like everyone else dies.
There are many who live every day with the FEAR OF DEATH.
2. SOME LIVE WITH A FEAR OF GROWING OLD.
You can take the most attractive young person in this town and ten years from now they may have aged so much that you and I might not be able to recognize that person if we saw that person coming down the street.
Many are aware of this and they buy Oil of Olay by the buckets full trying to prevent this from happening, but it happens to them just as it happens to everyone else.
Many are fearful every day as they look in the mirror daily and discover their bodies are aging.
Men and women alike have this fear.
Illus: One man said:
? “It is terrible growing old alone.”
? Someone said, “What do you mean, it is terrible growing old alone. You have a wife who is about your age don’t you?”
? He said, “Yes, but she has not had a birthday in the last fifty years.”
We all find ourselves in some fearful situation! What do we do in times like this?
The psalmist said in psalm 56:3, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.”
In this passage of scripture God is speaking to the children of Israel through His prophet Isaiah while they were in bondage. God told them, “Fear thou not...”
God did not just say, “Fear thou not...” He went on to tell them WHY THEY SHOULD NOT BE FEARFUL.
He gave them at least four reasons.
I. WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE SOMETHING.
Look at these words, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee...”
If we are going to live a life free from fear we have to acknowledge God has promised, “I AM WITH THEE!”
When we are aware of that truth, that God is with us, we can face the future.
Illus: Many can remember how it was when they were children and became afraid. They would run and stand beside their dads and moms and hold their hands.
Illus: I like that old hymn that states it this way, “I don’t know about tomorrow, but I know who holds my hand.”
When you become aware of God’s presence, it gives courage to face the hard times of life.
When we are aware of God’s presence we can face life’s difficulties without fear.
God said, in Hebrews 13:5b-6, “...for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”
Notice the last part of verse 6. Being conscious of God’s presence, he said, “...and I will not FEAR what MAN SHALL DO UNTO ME.”
Illus: The “Gospel Herald” tells of a man by the name of Foster Walker. He was a Christian man who was very conscious of God’s presence in all situations.
He walked into a convenience store one day during a hold up in Memphis, TN. The gunman took one look at him and said, “Give me your money or I’ll shoot you!”
Without any fear he said, “You go ahead and shoot. I just got through reading my Bible and praying, and if you pull that trigger the only thing you are going to do is blow me into the Kingdom of God.”
Illus: Henry Ward Beecher was also a man who was very conscious of the presence of God in his life and did not fear what men could do to him.
During his pastorate he preached a sermon on gambling and drunkenness. After his sermon a drunk stood outside of his church, “I demand you retract what you said about gamblers and drunkards or else I will shoot you!”
Beecher told the man, “Shoot away!” As he walked away he was heard saying, “But I do not believe you can hit the mark as good as I did! I will not retract what I said! Shoot away!” He realized God was with him and he did not have to back down to any man.
Evidently young Timothy had a time when he had been fearful. WHY DO WE SAY SUCH A THING ABOUT HIM?
Because the apostle Paul wrote to him and said, II Tim. 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
The prophet Isaiah said, “Fear thou not, for I AM WITH THEE.”
In order to OVERCOME FEAR IN OUR LIFE, WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE SOMETHING.
We have to ACKNOWLEDGE HIS PRESENCE.
also...
II. WE HAVE TO TRUST IN SOMEONE.
Look at these words, “...be not dismayed; for I am thy God...”
The word, “dismayed,” here means, “Do not look alarmed.”
The thing the Lord is telling the children of Israel to do is to BE CALM!
I want to remind you that Isaiah was telling them during the time they were in slavery. They were being abused and were under much stress.
But, God was saying to them, “BE NOT DISMAYED; FOR I AM THY GOD...”
You know it is good to have good friends when we are in trouble, but so many times when we are in trouble, our friends can do no more than pat us on the back and sympathize with us.
Notice, God does not say, “BE NOT DISMAYED, FOR I AM YOUR FRIEND.” He said, “F-O-R I A-M Y-O-U-R G-O-D!”
In other words, God was saying, “BE NOT DISMAYED BECAUSE I AM BIGGER THAN YOUR PROBLEMS!
Your best friend would like to help you, but can not, but I can help you because I AM YOUR GOD!”
God wants us to trust Him when we are afraid. He is TRUSTWORTHY! He will never let us down.
Illus: This reminds me of the story of some old folks who were arguing about who was the most trustworthy, MEN or WOMEN.
? One man said, “Men are more trustworthy! No woman can keep a secret.”
? One of the ladies said, “O yea, well how is it that all these years I have been able to keep my age a secret!”
? The man said, “Some day you will let it out!” She said, “Don’t hardly think so. When a woman has kept a secret for seventy-five years, she can keep it forever!”
It doesn’t matter if it be 50 or 100 years, you can always trust the Lord. He will not let you down.
If we are going to OVERCOME FEAR, we have TO TRUST IN SOMEONE. Also...
III. WE HAVE TO RECEIVE SOMETHING.
Look at these words, “...I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee...”
DO YOU KNOW WHY GOD HAS TO STRENGTHEN US?
Because we are WEAK AND FRAIL!
Illus: You might look at people and think because they are big and tall they are not afraid of anything, but you would be surprised at how fearful some folks are who look as if they are not scared of anything.
Illus: Some teenagers were out trick or treating on Halloween night. In a previous year a man who lived down a long dirt road had been tricked by these trick-or-treaters. This time it was his time to trick them.
About half a dozen of the teens decided they would go to his house. They began to walk down the long dirt road. One of the young men’s girlfriend was with him.
As they were walking, a full moon lit the way and they could see a large tree with large branches that hung over the road. The girl said, “I saw something climb up that tree.” The others said, “You are just imagining things.” But when they reached the tree, the object she saw dropped out in front of them.
There were fields on both sides of the road, but one had a fence and the other did not. Naturally, they chose the field without the fence, and they ran so hard that one girl lost her shoes and they had to come back the next day to try to find them.
When the teenaged boy got home and told his mom what had happened:
? She said, “I hope that you took care of your girlfriend.”
? He said, “Yes ma’am, I shot across that field and she was right behind, but while she was running she fell down.”
? The mother said, “Did you go back and pick her up?”
? He said, “No ma’am, but as I was running, I looked back and when I saw she had fallen I yelled back to her to get up and run for her life!”
Later they found out that the man, who was tired of being tricked, had taken some burlap bags and tied them together and stuffed them to look like a bear. He had tied a rope to this stuffed bear and pulled it up the tree and when they came along he dropped it in front of them while he yelled and growled from behind the tree.
Everyone here can cite times in their lives when they were FEARFUL.
• There are grown men who had things happen to them as children and they are still afraid of the dark.
• There are people who live with a fear of germs. They are afraid to touch door handles because they are afraid they might come in contact with germs someone left on them.
Every day people live in fear. But, the psalmist said, “What time I am afraid I will trust in the Lord.”
Why? Because the Word of God says, “...I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee...”
We have to receive His strength because without it we are going to just continue in fear.
But, with His strength we can say with the apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
If we are going to OVER COME FEAR IN OUR LIVES, WE HAVE TO RECEIVE SOMETHING. Also...
IV. WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING.
Look at this verse one more time. We read, “yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
As we close, I remind you that God had requested the people of Israel to trust in Him while they were living during difficult times in slavery.
In other words, there are difficult times in our lives and if we are going to survive them it will be because of HIM, NOT US!
It is during these difficult times that God says, “...I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
? We are at the mercy of germs so small you can not see them with the naked eye.
? We are at the mercy of the elements.
? We are at the mercy of economic conditions.
So, put your trust in Me and BE NOT AFRAID.
God says, “Fear thou not...yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Conclusion: God would have us overcome fear.
I. WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE SOMETHING.
II. WE HAVE TO TRUST IN SOMEONE.
III. WE HAVE TO RECEIVE SOMETHING.
IV. WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING.
