Monday, October 29, 2012

Conquering Fear…..


“Then those who hate me will turn back when I call. I know that God is for me…..  In God I have put my trust.   I will not be afraid.    What can man do to me?     Psalm 56: 9,11 NLV

I must learn the lessons of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the most significant prayer that any person can pray, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”  (Luke 22:42 KJ)

One of those lessons is what to do about fear.

There is no doubt that Jesus shrank from the prospect of becoming sin for us.   The “agony” and the “sweat…..like drops of blood” were symptoms of an inward turmoil as He faced the awesome forces of the infernal on Calvary. (Luke 22:44)

It is no sin to be afraid.  There is no “Thou shalt not fear” commandment.  It is useless to try to get people to stop being afraid.  After all, is not fear a part of our preservation?  Do not animals protect themselves by being afraid?

Jesus in Gethsemane showed me what to do about fear.  I should not reject it, but conquer it!

Fear cannot be conquered unless we engage it and enter into combat with it.  Jesus felt turmoil at what He saw on Calvary, and even He asked His Father to remove the source of that fear.  

But when He learned that the Father was unable to remove the cross, for our salvation, Jesus promptly yielded His will to the Father’s and put His trust in His Father in the very midst of His fear.

He was heard because of “his godly fear” and was saved “out of death” and out of its fear. (Heb. 5:7)

That is my remedy for fear, one beautifully expressed by the psalmist:”When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.”  Psalm 56:3

The moment I feel fear, that should be the signal to trust and once I put my trust in God, I must dismiss my fear and calmly move forward.  That is what Jesus, my perfect example and pattern did!

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