Orig. 11/6/02
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9
Every wife should dig into her husband’s heart to learn his deepest fears. The woman who pulls the fear out of her man is a wife to be most coveted. A man is not flippant when it comes to fear. Besides sin, fear is the final frontier of a man’s heart. If you know his deepest fears then you know him better than almost anyone.
One cannot discover courage without uncovering fear so let’s ask the question that we all know is coming, "What do you fear the most?”
I am afraid of bottomless water. I can swim but I sink without constant movement. My body absolutely cannot float in fresh water.
I am, afraid of heights. Well, the fear is actually of falling from them and hitting the ground part! A few years ago I broke two ribs and a collar bone due to the impact of catching a touchdown pass during a youth group football game. If only two feet in the air did that kind of damage, can you imagine the pain of falling out of a tree stand while hunting 15 feet off the ground!
I can hear you thinking, “Yes, we all are afraid to things like that but what intangibles do you fear? What fears hinder your walk with Christ or your ability to step out in faith?”
Oh.
Okay, I am afraid of failure. Failure exposes my weaknesses. Winning is important but only because I hate losing. I hate others knowing that someone else is better than me-in anything. Because competition always involves someone losing, I will often refuse to compete rather than be put on display as, you got it, the loser. If failure is inevitable and I see no shot at victory I will simply refuse to compete. There, I said it. Are you happy?
You see, fear is the absence of trust. Trust is the presence of faith, in something or someone.
Therefore fear is the lack of faith in a man's life. You may be a follower of Christ yet in a moment of weakness choose to walk in fear instead of faith. Faith is a process that is initiated by the first step or event. We receive Christ by faith and it is the event of receiving Him that saves us (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 10:9-10). However, our faith is “rooted and built up in him (Colossians 2:7)” on a day by day basis as “we live by faith, not by sight (2Coritnhians 5:7).” Some days our faith is impeccable while others it is embarrassing. God commands Joshua not only to be “strong and courageous” but to “not tremble or be dismayed (NASB)”. To be a servant of God yet tremble, frozen with fear and confusion is to momentarily lose focus of the cross. It is in these momentary lapses of trust that fear finds a home within our heart. Just as courage stands with trust, fear also stands with trembling.
Which leg do you stand on? Does your trust in Jesus create a greater courage to step out in faith, or have your fears placed life on hold as you tremble paralyzed by fear?
