The second step to deal with our fear is to pray and ask God to take it away. David says in Psalm
"I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." So often we include in our prayers the words "If it be your will, Lord." We know that it is His will for "all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (I Tim 2:4) So we know He will calm our fears, and help us speak out for Him!
There have been times that I've been afraid. Very afraid. The fact that I have tried to memorize these particular verses has been a blessing --- even if I can't recall all of it, or get it in the right order, I can pull a lot of it out of my wee brain, and His words comfort me:
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41: 9-10)
Isn't that an awesome passage? God is telling us, "Hey! What's the trouble? I am your all-powerful, all-knowing, holy God, and I called you and said you are my servant!" This is such an all encompassing thought: He next says that He chose us -- an active process, not a passive one. He saw us and chose us; He drew us to Him.
Next He states that He has not rejected us. In spite of our sin, our weakness and even our lack of witnessing for Him, He has not set us aside. He is a God of second chances.
Then the climax of verse 10 --- four awesome things that He promises to us:
- I am with you
- I will strengthen you
- I will help you
- I will uphold you with my right hand
I hope today's study has encouraged you, and that you'll be back tomorrow for more!
I am very grateful for those words of encouragement to day. I need them.
ReplyDeleteIn my Sunday morning Bible study class, we've been discussing this very thing. We can do this if we rely on the filling of the Spirit. We don't have to know all the answers, we don't have to say perfect words, because the Spirit will speak through us. And if we DO rely on the Holy Spirit, we don't have to be afraid.
ReplyDeleteNow, having said that let me say this. I'm still afraid. LOL! So, I definitely am not allowing the Holy Spirit to fill me.
We've been discussing this at church. We kind of moved in the though process away from the evangelism era and are returning to Puritan roots within our home. One thing that we now are putting an emphasis on is just telling the Word and then moving on. It is the Spirits job to do the rest.
ReplyDeleteHow many have we led to the Lord? Every single person that we have told. It is not our job to know whether God has called them to Himself or not. It was just our job to tell them.