Destroy The Fear In Your Life

          

 Life was good for Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  It was a true paradise until Satan slithered into their lives.  They went into hiding after they had offended their Creator.  "Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you?"  Its not like God didn't know where they were, it was a preparation question by which God was about to reveal himself to them.  Adam replied, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."  Adam and Eve then revealed the sin in their hearts by participating in a blame game.

            Fear can be paralyzing.  The sound of God's movement in the garden was incapacitating.  It was heart stopping.  John Haggai said, "For many, fear has grown like a tree until it over shadows them from morning till night."  Fear is probably the most destructive force of mankind.  Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the sin of pride and then the assaulted them with fear. 

            Fear is a leading health problem among Americans.  Fear and depression are like destructive twin sisters.  They can spawn ulcers, heart problems, liver and kidney disease in their wake.  Fear and worry are probably responsible for more deaths than all the wars combined.  "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)  If fear doesn't come from God it must originate with Satan.  Satan unleashes fear upon us and then he "prowls around like a lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)  A.W. Tozer said, "Fear is of the flesh and panic is of the Devil." 

            I am a Kentucky basketball fan and I recently enjoyed watching Kentucky plow to a national championship.  I noticed their intensity increased dramatically as they neared the end of each game they played.  I think Satan's activity is increasing dramatically as the endgame draws near.  "But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you!  He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."  (Revelation 12:12)

            There are numerous verses in the Bible that admonish us to fear God.  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Psalm 11:10)  There is not a single verse in the Bible that tells us to fear Satan.  When we have a reverential respect for the all-powerful God, our fear of Satan is erased like black marks on a dry erase board. 

            Fear is indelibly woven into the fabric of our culture.  We fear unemployment.  We fear poverty.  We fear an empty bank account.  We fear foreclosure.  Our anemic economy has generated a great fear that Medicare, Medicaid and our Social Security will one day be no longer available.  This spirit of fear is an evil spirit, it hounds us and torments us and it is born in hell.

            I was very discouraged when I looked at the bottom line on this year's tax return.   I owed the federal government a sizeable amount of money.  I owe money to the mortgage company but it doesn't give rise to any fear.  I owe money to the dentist, I owe money to the Medical Center but these debts stir in me no fear.  For some reason, owing money to the U.S. Government produced a dreadful fear in me.  I began to imagine people pulling up in my driveway in black limousines, jumping out in Colombo style overcoats to serve me papers with Barack Obama's name on them.  I painted a house during Spring Break to pay off our taxes and I'm relieved to say, "I don't owe the U.S. Government one red cent." 

            Ten years ago my wife and I left public schools to work in private Christian schools.  The move from public to private required we take a $20,000 to $30,000 combined pay cut.  We had no idea how we would pay our bills but we both felt strongly that God was calling us to teach in Christian schools where we could openly, daily proclaim the name of Christ.  I want to reveal, to the glory of God, that we have never missed a house payment, we have never missed a car payment and we've had more than enough food to eat since we decided to trust God for our needs.

            If God is asking you to do something but you just can't seem to crunch the numbers on it, don't be smothered by a spirit of fear.  I boldly and confidently write these words, "If you are doing the bidding of God who 'owns the cattle on a thousand hills', (Psalm 50:10) he will take care of you."

            Over a hundred years ago, while her husband was away for several weeks on a preaching assignment, Civilla Martin wrote these words: 

            "All you may need he will provide,

            God will take care of you;

            Nothing you ask will be denied,

            God will take care of you.

            No matter what may be the test,

            God will take care of you;

            Lean, weary one, upon His breast,

            God will take care of you."

            As a school teacher I really connected to a quote I read recently, "When you are going through something hard and wonder where God is, remember, the teacher is always quiet during the test." 

            We often become arrogant about the things we have accumulated over the years.  We think we have earned those things.  We have what we have because God gave those things to us.  "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." (James 1:17)

            My brother, Dennis, has been a missionary to Japan for over thirty years.  He and his wife are packing their belongings and preparing to return to the states as I write these words.  They have experienced some severe health problems that forced them into early retirement from the mission field.  God spoke to Dennis' heart when he was but a teen-ager about dedicating his life to the Japanese people.  Dennis obediently served God for all those years, depending on God and the goodwill of others to support his ministry.

            I asked him the other day, "Dennis, what are you going to do now?  Your retirement plan is not enough to sustain you.  You are still buying a house.  Your wife has a mountain of medical bills to pay.  What are you going to do?"  His reply went something like this, "Kevin, God has taken care of us for over thirty years.  Do you think he will now forget about us now?"

            Then I began to consider why my brother was called of God to the mission field and I was not.  Perhaps it was because he was able to drown out his fears with faith in a trustworthy God.  While I was fearfully quizzing my brother concerning his next move, he was resting on the promises of a loving God.  There is no need to be fearful, was it not said of the Author of the Universe, the One who cannot lie or deceive, the One who has never broken a promise, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" ? (Philippians 4:9) 

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.

Laura’s Story

Laura Story’s Blessings

They were high school sweethearts. Usually those relationships fade away as we mature and grow older. Laura and Martin fell deeper and deeper in love and finally married. But marital bliss was interrupted by the terrorizing fear of sudden loss. Martin had developed a brain tumor. A healthy and handsome man in the prime of youth was hospitalized with no assurance of a future with his new bride.

When we arrive at unexpected crossroads, when our own happiness is threatened and we learn that his plan for us includes a direction we did not choose and pain we did not want there are only two directions we can go; we will become embittered and get angry with God and perhaps even hate him or we will discover an enduring and sustaining grace we never thought possible.

Laura Story chose the path that led her nearer to God. When I heard her song and read her story I couldn’t help but think of the verse in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Laura’s unexpected trial took her to a place where she could write the song “Blessings”. It is a song about responding with faith and hope when life takes a bad turn. Laura says, “Life is filled with things you don’t expect, but the Bible tells us to respond by trusting God and continuing to worship him. Martin hasn’t received complete healing—and that can be hard at times when we view God as all-powerful and all-loving. But here we are now saying, ‘Yes, this is how faith works.’ God has proven to be faithful. We have been truly blessed out of a circumstance that at first didn’t seem like much of a blessing at all.”

How many of God’s children have found comfort in his words? “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." (Hebrews 13:5) It is often during the more difficult times that we discover “a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24)

God doesn’t promise us a rose garden. Sometimes he sends his “refining fire” to purify us and awaken us so our senses are prepared for a deeper revelation of his glory. The suffering He allows and the subsequent grace has a transforming affect on us. Laura says, “We have a voice that wasn’t there prior to this suffering.”

Recently we saw many of our greatest warriors shot down in Afghanistan. They gave their lives for their country and for a cause they felt was bigger than themselves. I wondered when I read about this tragic loss if they would have signed up had they known the outcome. When we choose Christ’s way our commitment to the journey does not depend on our own contentment or happiness. We press onward for Christ whether the path leads through the valley or to the mountain heights. Laura reinforces this truth when she says, ““Everyone wants to be a mature and equipped follower, but would I have signed up had I known what it would take? God has grown us up, deepened our faith, our awareness of our great need for him as a savior, daily. We knew it before, but we didn’t see it. This is a good place to be.”

Laura writes a wonderful song about the mystery of how God can bring blessings through tragedy.

Nathan Hale was hung as a traitor by the British during the Revolutionary War. His last words mirror the feelings of many Christians, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” We have all been given but one life. We must make the most of it. Laura expresses it well, “The world supports an idea of self-centered living because ‘I just have this one life,’ but we need to look at it the other way. We only have one life to give to God. I don’t want to have held anything back. I don’t want to be a conservative Christian; I want to give with abandon, to be spent, to truly give my life away for the cause of Christ.”

Might we, like the Apostle Paul, learn to “be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11)

“'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears?

And what if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You're near?

 

  Kevin Probst

Jeff Markin: Back from the Dead, Reborn Into the Light

Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.