IS THERE VICTORY OVER FEAR?

PSALMS 56:3-4: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?” NKJV

OBSERVATION: Have you ever been afraid? This is more of a rhetorical question because we all deal with fear every day of our lives. I have to deal with fear each time I get in my car because the drivers in Florida are very unpredictable.

Yet, when I read these verses I think about the secret fears that many of us face that we do not share with others. We know as believers in Jesus Christ we are called to walk by faith and that perfect love casts out fear. These are verses we are well acquainted with.

However, let’s be brutally honest with ourselves and with others. There are areas in our life in which we battle fear that we keep hidden from other people. After all, as a mature believer, I should already have overcome these things – right?

I love the transparency and brute honesty of David. David, a man after God’s own heart, never tried to hide his struggles and weaknesses. The book of Psalms is a look into the bare recesses of David’s heart. David did not say – “Because I trust in God I will never fear!” Rather, David proclaimed,

“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You!”

These words would simply be a platitude unless David also revealed how he did this. It is one thing to face our fears. It is quite another to overcome them. How did David overcome his fears? David gives us the answer.

“In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?”

David did not simply say – “I trust You, God!” No, David anchored his trust in God’s Word. I have found that without the Word of God, our battle against our fears is like trying to slay a fire-breathing dragon with a squirt gun. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. David’s anchor against the storms of fear raging in his life was God’s Word!

“When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me. In God (I will praise His word), In the LORD (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”  Psalms 56:9-11, NKJV

David was confident that when he cried out to God – God would hear him and intercede on his behalf. Why did David know that God was for him? It was because David was abiding in God’s Word – “In God (I will praise His word), In the Lord (I will praise His word).”

David stood confident amid his fear because he stood firmly upon God’s Word. This does not mean that David did not have fears or face fears. It means that when fear came knocking at the door of David’s heart – David ran to the promises of God!

David began to remind himself of God’s Word. Paul echoes the words of David in his epistle to the Romans.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom 8:31-32 NKJV)

Here is what I have found in life. When I am abiding in the Word of God my heart is anchored in faith, hope, and love – because it is anchored to Jesus Christ my Lord. When I abide in the Word I am abiding in Him. When fear comes against my life – though my little boat may be blown and rocked by its wind and waves – it is not overcome because it is anchored in Christ!

As I abide in God’s Word I abide in God’s love. As I grow in God’s love I find victory over fear. As David writes,

“In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear.”

As we grow closer to God we find victory over the fears in our lives. We grow closer to God as we abide in His Word. It is the Word of God that reveals His nature and love and assures us of His faithfulness and promises. When the Word of God is abiding in our hearts and fear knocks at our door – the Holy Spirit brings the promises of God into our hearts and minds and we find victory and assurance in our time of need.

There is no shortcut to knowing God. There is no shortcut to overcoming fear. We overcome the world by faith. We grow in faith by abiding in Christ. We abide in Christ by abiding in His Word. Our prayers are empowered when we learn to pray the promises of God. When we ask according to His Word we know that He hears us and that He will answer.

Lord, give me the grace to abide in Your Word! The next time I am afraid, like David, let me overcome fear as I praise and proclaim Your Word!

“I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.” (1Jn 2:14 NKJV)

In Jesus’ Name!