In the September 21, 2001 San Francisco Chronicle, the headline read, "Freedom and Fear Are at War." The truth is fear is at war with many aspects of life, not just with freedom. Fear wars against our health. Fear wars against making good decisions. Fear wars against obedience to God. Fear interferes with all of life.
Fear is not all bad. But fear that wars against our confidence in God is bad. The fear that causes you to dodge an oncoming car is not bad. The fear that causes you to live within your budget is not bad. Yet, there are fears that stress our health and kill us prematurely. The fear of disapproval by people can make us bland and even disobedient to God. When fear wars against our confidence in God, fear is destructive to living.
The current fears many in this room experience include the fear of disapproval, the fear of inadequacy, the fear of unemployment, the fear of being drafted into active military service, the fear of future terrorist attacks, the fear of biochemical warfare, the fear of certain illnesses, and the fear of death. These objects of fear are not a present reality for many of us. But for those who are experiencing these realities, your fears and responses to your fears may create more problems for you than your realities.
Fear is like a fire alarm. Fear signals us of danger and calls our mind and body to respond for survival. Unfortunately, many people’s alarm and their responses to the alarm have been set incorrectly over the years. Some parents program their children with repeated lies such as, "If you don’t get A’s in your report card, you will be a failure in life." We produce perfectionist adults who are afraid of ever failing.
Others have grown up with models of cowardice. Their constant self-protection leads them to lives of dishonesty. The media violence has programmed the fear alarm of many Americans. The responses are paranoid thoughts that interfere with reality.
Painful childhood experiences program many to fear things that adults need no longer to fear. Sexually abused children have problems with intimacy as adults. And finally, distorted concepts of God produce fear in people. Many want nothing to do with God. Others have relationships with God that are characterized by guilt and shame.
To reprogram our fear and our responses to the fear in order for fear to be of help rather than to be destructive in our lives, we need to plug our lives into God’s power, to be loved in order to love, and to exercise self-control. For the remainder of this message, I will detail out these three actions for us to realign our fear to serve its intended purpose in our lives. Before I do that, let me identify some ineffective ways to deal with fear.
Some people deal with fear by pretending not to be afraid. They fake confidence, but instead of exuding confidence, they exude arrogance or insensitivity. Others deal with fear by denying the existence of the object they fear. They don’t go to the doctor because they might find out they have a serious illness. Still, others deal with their fear or the object of their fear by calling on their dead ancestors. The Bible tells us in Luke 16 that our dead ancestors cannot be of help to the living.
The Bible offers a life-transforming and lasting solution for moving from fear to confidence. The Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (or cowardice), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (or self-control)."
Timothy was a young pastor at the church of Ephesus, and the Apostle Paul was his mentor. Paul encouraged Timothy in the first letter to not let others intimidate him because of his young age. Timothy was afraid of being inadequate as a young pastor.
In this second letter to Timothy, Paul reminds Timothy that any cowardice in his life did not come from God’s Spirit; rather God gave him a spirit of power, love and self-control. Power, plus love, plus self-control equals confidence.
Now I’m not talking about power that comes from money, material possession or manipulation. All of us know people who have wealth and influence but lack true confidence. Only God’s Spirit can give you the power you need for enduring confidence. Only God’s Spirit can give you the love and self-control you need for true confidence. Let me detail out God’s building blocks for confidence and then conclude with how you can receive God’s Spirit.
FIRST, we move from fear to confidence by being plugged into God’s power. The fear of unemployment, of war, of future terrorist attacks, of the unknown beyond the grave are all tied to two major fears: The fear of inadequacy and the fear of death.
The solution to both of these fears is having God’s power that enables us to face life’s challenges and death’s challenges. The Bible tells us, "Now to him [God] who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! (Ephesians 3:20-21)."
Our governmental leaders and church leaders have been turning to God for wisdom since the terrorist attacks last Tuesday. Only God can bring adequate wisdom and power to respond in our time of need. God does not limit His power to leaders, but the Bible tells us He generously gives wisdom, courage and perseverance to all who ask. All of us need God’s power in our personal lives, also.
About a year ago, I was on the phone with someone who was very afraid of going through two serious surgical procedures. Yet, she would die if she did not do those procedures. God gave me the opportunity to lead her to receive His Spirit. Her later dependence on God pulled her through both procedures courageously. God’s Spirit provides power to face life’s challenges.
Furthermore, God is the only One Who can truly resolve our fear of death. The American saying, "Life is short, and then you die," is incomplete. The Bible tells us, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him (Hebrews 9:27-28)."
About a month ago, I was on the phone with someone whose relative was dying. The relative wanted to die because he was in poor health and was very depressed. This relative had ignored God all of his life until my friend told him how he could make right his relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Within two days, the relative died. Yet, after receiving God’s Spirit, the relative viewed death no longer as escape from suffering but going home to be with God. God’s Spirit provides power to face death.
FIRST, we move from fear to confidence by being plugged into God’s power. SECOND, we move from fear to confidence by being loved in order to love. John 4:18-19 read, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he [God] first loved us."
Being unconditionally loved by God brings confidence to our lives. The Bible tells us, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)." In other words, God’s punishment for the wrongs we’ve committed in our lifetime is paid for by Jesus Christ’s death on the cross. We don’t need to be afraid of what will happen after we die if we received God’s love demonstrated in this way. Have you received such love from God? If you have, you would have great confidence whether you live or die.
God’s unconditional love for us also helps us to love others more unconditionally. The Bible tells us unconditional love works powerfully to remove fear and to engender confidence. Let me give you two practical applications. If you or someone you know is interviewing for a new job, use the principle of loving others to transform fear into confidence in their interview experience.
Fourteen years ago I received the unconditional love of God through Jesus Christ. Since then, I have been able to love those who interviewed me and to love the company more than I love myself. When I have been interviewed, I don’t think of how I can benefit from getting the job. I focus on loving the people who are interviewing me, communicating my interest in their well-being and in the well-being of the organization. Not only was I hired into organizations where I enjoyed working, but I also enjoyed confidence, not fear, throughout the interview experience.
Loving others in your daily relationships can also produce confidence in you. If you love the one you fear, you will no longer fear the one you love. The solution to working with difficult people is not found in manipulative power play but in the unconditional love of the difficult people. Yet, we can only love others unconditionally when we have experienced the unconditional love of God.
FIRST, we move from fear to confidence by being plugged into God’s power. SECOND, we move from fear to confidence by being loved in order to love. THIRD, we move from fear to confidence by exercising self-control. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (or cowardice), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-control."
When we evaluate our fears, we often know how to control our fears. We need to take control. For instance, many of our fears are simply caused by a lack of discipline in what we take into our minds and what we allow to stay in our minds. We fill our minds with thoughts that produce fear.
A headache, given enough time in our minds can become a tumor. A careless comment from a friend, given enough mental gymnastics can become a vicious verbal attack. Instead, the Bible commends us to think on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable ... (Philippians 4:8)." These thoughts produce confidence and lead to actions that resolve problems rather than to fears that add to the problems.
The wisest king, King Solomon said, "Better ... is he that rules his spirit than he that takes a city (Proverbs 16:32)." Controlling our thought, attitude, speech and action in a healthy way takes work, but such self-control will win over fear. Letting the truths and principles from the Bible guide our thoughts, words and actions will build a foundation for self-control.
In reaction to the terrorist attacks, many people did not know how to respond. Some responded in anger, while others responded in fear. Much of the responses were influenced by the news that changed every hour. I chose to turn off the news and to take control of my thoughts and actions. Last Tuesday I went into the office to read the Bible and to join with other pastors to pray.
The Bible teaches us to forgive and to love our enemies. The Bible also teaches that God instituted the government to protect its citizens and to bring about justice. So instead of anger, I prayed that God would help me to forgive and to love whoever the terrorists were. Instead of fear, I prayed for the government to carry out its God-given responsibilities. Self-control helped me move from fear to confidence.
God’s power plus love plus self-control equals confidence. I have detailed out God’s building blocks for confidence and will conclude with how you can receive God’s Spirit. Without God’s Spirit, our power, love and self-control are limited and misguided. God’s Spirit in us provides unlimited and godly power, love and self-control.
The Bible says in John 7:38-39, "Whoever believes in me [Jesus Christ], as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this he [Jesus Christ] meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him [Jesus] were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified [raised from the dead and ascended into heaven]."
The way to receive God’s Spirit and the power, love and self-control that comes with the Spirit is to trust in Jesus Christ as the way to a right and healthy relationship with God. God took the first step: While we ignored Him, He demonstrated His unconditional love for us through Jesus Christ. We simply have to take the second step: Receive His love by trusting in Jesus Christ. God will take the third step: Send His Spirit to be within us.
A little boy walked into his Dad’s den just as his Dad finished reading a book. The son asked, "What were you reading?’
The Father replied, "I was reading the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible."
The little boy curiously asked, "What’s it about?
His Dad replied, "It’s about God’s final battle against evil."
The little boy excitedly asked, "Who won?"
The Father stooped down to his boy’s eye level and said, "God won."
If you have God’s spirit in you, you will have power, love and self-control to transform your fear into confidence.
