2021-03-18
Joshua 3:13 NLT
To enter the Promised Land, the Israelites had to cross the River Jordan at flood stage. Were they afraid? Wouldn’t you be? Nevertheless, the only way to reach their destiny was to do the very thing they feared!
When you let fear take hold, you become even more fearful and end up creating a debilitating cycle that works like this: Fear breeds lack of action. Lack of action breeds lack of experience. Lack of experience breeds ignorance. And ignorance breeds fear. It makes you afraid to do the very thing that would be beneficial to you.
Taking action means you’ll have to move into the unknown and do the untried – and that can be scary. But if you give in to your fears, you won’t move forward. You don’t receive the benefit of what you avoid, nor do you gain the valuable experience that will make your life better. As a result, you remain ignorant about that area of life, and ignorance always breeds more fear, making it that much harder to push ahead and get things done.
Harry Truman remarked: “The worst danger we face is the danger of being paralyzed by doubts and fears. This danger is brought on by those who abandon faith and sneer at hope…by those who spread cynicism and distrust and try to blind us to our great chance to do good for all mankind.”
Somebody said fear is the darkroom where all our negatives are developed. It’s interest paid in advance on a debt you may never owe. And it undermines faith – in yourself, in others, and in God.
Soul food: Job 18-20; Matt 24:1-14; Ps 116:1-11; Prov 8:8-9
Job 3:25 NKJV
Career. If we don’t have a job, we worry about finding one. If we do have a job, we worry about keeping it. Before we even get on the career path, we worry about grades and exam results that could make or break our plans for the future. We tend to root a lot of our security in our jobs, which can leave us vulnerable when things go wrong with them. We need a more solid foundation, and we have one in God.
Psalm 16:8 says: ‘I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me’ (NLT). When we root our security in Him, it’s much easier for us to keep our fears and worries in perspective, and to know that even if the worst happens, He’ll bring us through it.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean an easy life, and although a lot of our fears won’t ever happen, there will be times when, like Job, we cry out ‘What I dreaded has happened to me’ (Job 3:25 NKJV). But God can bring something good out of the bad times: ‘In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’ (Romans 8:28 NIV).
We might have to lose a job in order to discover our true calling. We might have to walk through a season of unemployment in order to learn to trust God and lean on Him more. Our plans for the future might have to be broken down in order to let God’s plan guide our lives. As long as we make Him the foundation of our lives, we won’t be overwhelmed by our fears.
Job 18-20; Matt 24:1-14; Ps 116:1-11; Prov 8:8-9
2021-03-17
Job 4:14 NLV
Vrees kan verwoestend wees, omdat vrees nog meer vrees kweek. Die verraderlikste eienskap van vrees is sy vermoë om te oordryf. C. Everett Koop, die voormalige chirurg-generaal van Amerika, het opgemerk: ‘Mense het eenvoudig ‘n onvanpaste sin van wat onveilig is.’
Vrees jy dit om te vlieg? Die feit is dat jy waarskynliker aan ‘n stukkie kos sal verstik as wat jy in ‘n vliegtuigongeluk sal sterf. Is jy bang om in ‘n rooftog te sterf? Dis twee keer meer waarskynlik dat jy sal sterf terwyl jy sport beoefen as wat jy deur ‘n vreemdeling doodgesteek sal word. Is jy bang vir haaie? Elke jaar maak varke meer mense dood as wat haaie doen. Is jy bang om ‘n operasie te ondergaan? Jy is sestien keer meer blootgestel om in ‘n motorongeluk as van chirurgiese komplikasies te sterf.
Die situasies wat ons vrees gebeur selde. Ons roep in ons gedagtes rampe op wat heel waarskynlik nooit sal plaasvind nie. Wanneer dit nie gebeur nie, dink ons: ‘Sjoe, dit was nou amper!’ Die waarheid is dat ons gedagtes die enigste ding is wat potensiële gevaar vir ons skep.
Hoe moet jy dus jou vrese hanteer? Deur die waarheid van hierdie Skrifgedeelte uit te oefen: ‘Hierdie volk weet dat die Here hulle sal help. U sal hulle laat rus en vrede vir hulle gee, want hulle glo in U. Julle moet altyd in die Here glo, want as julle by Hom is, dan is julle by ‘n rots wat altyd vas staan. (Jesaja 26:3-4 ABA).
Sielskos: Job 15-17; Matt 23:23-39; Ps 19; Spr 8:6-7
Job 4:14 NKJV
Health. Fears about health can take different forms. We worry about the health of those we love. We might be fearful because we’re currently unwell and we’re scared of what could be wrong, or we’re afraid of getting a particular illness at some point in our lives. It’s great to be informed about different illnesses and what we need to look out for, but the downside for some of us is that we can be tempted to jump to the worst possible conclusion whenever we experience a symptom.
In Job 4:13-14, Eliphaz says: ‘In disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night…fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake’ (NKJV). It’s often in the middle of the night, when we’re alone with just our own thoughts for company, with plenty of time for our imaginations to run wild, that our fears can increase and take us captive.
But God wants to bring us out of that fearful place to a place of His peace. Jeremiah 17:14 says, ‘Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise’ (NIV), and Psalm 30:2 says ‘O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health’ (NLT).
God can and does heal people from illnesses. But sometimes His healing takes a different form. He might not always physically heal us, but when we cry out to Him, He’ll soothe our minds by taking our fears and replacing them with His peace. We don’t know why He doesn’t physically heal everyone, but we can be sure that whatever health problems we might experience, He won’t let us face them alone.
Job 15-17; Matt 23:23-39; Ps 19; Prov 8:6-7
Job 4:14 NKJV
Fear can be devastating. Why? Because it breeds more fear! And the most insidious thing about fear is its ability to exaggerate. C. Everett Koop, former surgeon general of the United States, observed, “People just have an inappropriate sense of what is dangerous.”
Do you fear flying? The fact is, you’re more likely to die from choking on a piece of food than in a commercial airline crash. Are you afraid of dying in a robbery? You’re twice as likely to be killed playing a sport than you are to be stabbed to death by a stranger. Are you afraid of sharks? Every year farmyard pigs slay more people than sharks do. Are you worried about having surgery? You’re sixteen times more likely to die in a car crash than you are from surgical complications.
Seldom do the things we fear come to pass. In our minds we conceive coming disasters that will likely never happen. And when they don’t occur, we think, “That was a close one!” The truth is – our thoughts were the only things creating potential danger for us.
So how should you deal with your fears? By practicing the truth of this Scripture: “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]” (Isaiah 26:3-4 AMPC).
Soul food: Job 15-17; Matt 23:23-39; Ps 19; Prov 8:6-7
