Fears

Welcome to Insights. This is Pastor John

and today we're going to talk about

fears

and spec specifically we're going to

talk about overcoming fear through faith

in God. Um let's pray. Heavenly Father,

we thank you for today. We thank you for

your word. Lord, we thank you for giving

us

for giving us faith and not a spirit of

fear. and help us Lord to remember that

with you all things are possible. In

Jesus name we pray. Amen. So Isaiah

41:10 it says, "Fear thou not, for I am

with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy

God. I will strengthen thee. Yay, I will

help thee. Yay, I will uphold thee with

the right hand of my righteousness."

Everyone faces fear. We face the fear of

unknown, the fear of failure, fear of

sickness, losing control.

And what I I want you to think about a

moment when fear gripped your heart so

tightly that it's hard to breathe. We

call that anxiety today. And we've all

been there. Yet,

while fear is universal,

God offers a universal cure,

his presence. And we're going to look at

that today. We're going to look at how

being in the presence of God

is the antidote of fear. And it's not by

the courage of human strength, but faith

in a God who never leaves us. You know,

Jesus said, "I'll never leave you or

forsake you." And we have to keep that

in mind. If God can get you to it, he

can get you through it. And

if we believe that, then we can overcome

fear.

At the writing of this,

um Isaiah spoke to Israel and they were

in a national crisis. They were uh they

were facing exile uncertainty wondering

if God had abandoned them and their

enemies were powerful. The Assyrians had

come and they were going to destroy

them. Yet in that moment when the future

looked so bleak, God speaks through

Isaiah words of comfort and strength.

The first thing he says, "Fear thou not,

for I am with thee." This is not a

shallow encouragement.

It's a divine promise.

God reminded his people that his

covenant love would sustain them even

through judgment and restoration.

Just as Israel stood trembling before an

uncertain fi future, many of us face

modern exiles

uh seasons of loss, illness, or fear of

the unknown. But the same God who spoke

through Isaiah still whispers today, "I

am with you. I've faced these types of

things in the past. I know I know what

it's like to lose everything you have.

And you know there's uh there is a

bright and shining light or as we would

call it a silver lining around that

cloud

which is this that even when things were

so

stressful and I was in a situation that

I had never been in before in my life, I

found out in the middle of that that God

was right there with me. And it gave me

courage. It gave me hope that if I kept

going forward, if I trusted God more

than what I could see

that I would get through it and I did.

So fear is it's a powerful emotion and

it can paralyze you. Fear causes us to

have a fight orflight reaction. And it's

important that we understand that that

fight is spiritual. It's not a physical

battle. It's a spiritual battle. It's

the enemy trying to convince you that

you have no hope. And uh it's one of his

greatest weapons. And if we look to the

word of where it says not to be afraid,

then we begin to understand that fear

doesn't have power over us. Um, I was

looking this up and in the King James

version, the word fear appears over 500

times

and the phrases fear not and be not

afraid occurred about a hund over a

hundred times.

And what is it that God's trying to tell

us is that every single

thing that we do,

God is with us. He will never leave us.

He'll never forsake us. It reminds me of

when Jesus is asleep in the front of the

boat. He tells the disciples to go to

the other side. He lays down the front

of the boat and he goes to sleep and a

storm comes up and what is and the

disciples are full of fear. They're

afraid that the that this storm is going

to sink the boat they're on. And they're

afraid and they wake Jesus up and said,

"Master, aren't you concerned about us?

are, don't you care about us? And he

gets up and he rebukes the wind and then

he chides them. In other words, he he

gets onto them for their lack of faith.

The God of the universe is asleep in the

front of the boat and they're afraid

that they're going to drown and they're

with God. And that that's

a fear we all face. God is with us. Um

Paul said he that is within you is

greater than he that is in the world. He

also said that the same spirit that

raised Christ from the dead resides in

you. So we have to look to what God's

word says to be able to overcome the

fear that can conquer us and cause us to

to to go into places uh caused by fear.

Isaiah 41:10

it says when God says fear thou not for

I am with thee he anchors his command in

his presence. Fear thrives in isolation

but fades in the light of divine

companionship. The assurance that God is

with us not distant not indifferent. It

changes everything. The presence of God

transforms

dark valleys into places of peace.

Um, think about a child walking through

a dark hallway holding their parents

hand. The darkness remains, but the fear

disappears because of who is holding

their hand. And God is holding our hand.

When fear whispers that you're alone,

uh, respond with faith that says, "God

is with me." Practice awareness of his

presence daily in prayer, worship, and

scripture. The presence of God is the

greatest antidote to fear. If we reach

out and we remember that God is with us.

If God is for us, who could be against

us?

And then he says, "I will strengthen

thee. Yay, I will help thee. Yay, I will

uphold thee with the right hand of my

righteousness."

Fear often reminds us of our weaknesses.

But God reminds us of his strength. His

right hand of righteousness symbolizes

authority, victory, and support.

When we feel overwhelmed, God becomes

our strength.

Just think about this. David is facing

Goliath, and he didn't rely on his own

might, but on God's power. Though

physically small, David's faith in God's

strength enabled him to triumph. When

you fa when you're facing overwhelming

challenges, lean on God's power. Pray,

"Lord, I am weak, but you are strong."

Let scripture inspire you and in and

sustain you. Faith transfers our focus

from our inability to God's unlimited

ability.

Uh when David was facing the Goliath,

what he said to Goliath was an absolute

statement of faith. He says, "You come

to me um in the name of your armies, but

I come to you in the name of the Lord."

And he didn't run away. He got his

stones and he ran towards Goliath.

So we have to run towards fear with our

confidence in God that we're going to

overcome because he made us overcomers.

God promises to give us peace even in

the middle of in uncertainty. It says uh

2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not

given us the spirit of fear, but of

power and of love and of a sound mind."

the the power of fear is to make you

doubt.

And it's goes all the way back. It's the

very thing that Satan used against Adam

and Eve in the Garden of Eden. He got

Eve to doubt what God said and sin came

into the world through Adam.

Fear often comes up when we forget God's

promises.

Paul reminds Timothy that the spirit God

gives us did not bring fear but power,

love, and a sound mind. God promises

build confidence that he is in control.

When Peter stepped out of the boat and

he walked on water while he focused on

Jesus, the moment he looked at the

storm, he sank because fear entered into

his mind

and his focus shifted from Jesus to the

storm.

So to overcome fear, we need to fix our

eyes on God's promises, not our

problems. Speak them out loud. Write

them down. Meditate upon them. That's

why it says meditate upon the word day

and night that you should have good

success.

Why? Because when you replace your

thoughts with God's thoughts, you begin

to think the way God thinks. Peace comes

when our hearts rest in the promises of

God rather than the pressures around us.

So, and I'm just going to give you a few

references where he talks about

overcoming fear through faith. Uh,

Psalms 23 and4, Joshua 1-9, John 14:27,

Romans 8 and 15, Psalms 27-1, Matthew

14:27, and Philippians 4:6 and 7. So,

fear loses its grip when faith takes its

place. So whatever you're facing,

sickness, uncertainty, financial

pressures, or emotional battles,

remember this. God is with you. God is

for you, and God is able. And the

presence of fear does not mean the

absence of faith, but faith must speak

louder. Choose to trust in his presence.

Rely on his strength, and rest in his

promises, and let your heart be clear. I

will not fear for my God is with me. You

know, it's important that we keep our

our our

mental focus

on what God's word says, not what we can

see. We walk by faith and not by sight.

So we and Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith

is the substance of things hoped for and

the evidence of things not seen." We

have to trust God more than what we can

see.

So I I want the peace of God which

passes all understanding to guard your

heart and mind through Christ Jesus. I

want his presence to go before you and

his power to sustain you and his

promises to calm every fear within you.

Walk in faith, live in courage, and know

that wherever you go, God is with you.

And it's important that your trust of

what God's word says

is greater than what you can see. And if

you can learn to do that, you can begin

to walk in faith and walk in places that

you never thought were possible.

Um, I've been in situations where I had

no idea how I was going to change uh the

situation I was in, how I was going to

get out of that situation, how I was

going to be able to overcome the

situation, which seemed completely and

totally uh unchangeable.

And yet through faith, it changed. I

found out just how great God was.

So I want to encourage you that no

matter what you're feeling, no matter

what you're facing, no matter how

difficult it may seem, that God's power,

his hand is not short, he still has the

power to overcome anything you're

facing. And uh I want you to take

comfort in the thought and the process

that with God all things are possible

and you don't have to fear the situation

you're in if by faith you can trust that

God will get you to the other side. So

Father, thank you for being our strength

when we are afraid. Teach us to walk by

faith and not by sight. When fear tries

to overwhelm us, remind us of your

constant presence and unfailing love.

Fill our hearts with your peace and

courage through the Holy Spirit in Jesus

mighty name. Amen. So remember, you're

more than conquerors through Christ

Jesus. Fear has no power over you unless

you give it power. It's up to you. It's

your choice. Um

remember, you're not walking this alone.

You're not by yourself. God has a plan.

We may not be able to see it right now,

but trust him. Romans 8 and 28 says,

"For all things work together for good

to them that love the Lord and are the

called according to his purposes." Trust

him. Trust in that. Trust that God will

never leave you or forsake you. And you

will find yourself changing your

situation.

We'll see you next week. You guys have a

blessed