Trade Your Fears for Faith 08-11-2024

Text: Psalm 56:1-4, 11

                             Today our text comes from the Old Testament, Psalm 56 verses 1 through 4 and verse 11, where David wrote:  "(1)Be merciful unto me, Oh God, for man would swallow me up; the fighting daily oppresses me.  (2)My enemies would daily swallow me up for they be many who fight against me, oh Thou Most High.   (3)What time I am afraid, I will trust in You.  (4)In God I will praise His Word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.  (11)In God have I put my trust:  I will not be afraid what man can do unto me."  David wrote this psalm when King Saul was trying to kill him.  He was completely surrounded by his enemies, in exile from his homeland. and he was afraid. 

                             I would submit that at some point every one of us struggles with fear of what is going to happen when we face uncertain or even scary situations.  Fear is a natural feeling at these times.  But David is showing that fear can actually rob us of the best things in life and that if we trade our fear for trust in God, we will be able to find peace and strength through the most difficult of situations.

                             We start out by seeing in verses 1 and 2 that David was facing people who wanted to kill him on a daily basis, and it caused him to be in a constant state of fear for his life leaving him no time to properly rest or enjoy any other life experiences.  While we may not have people chasing us down in order to kill us, we all have experienced fear perhaps because of financial issues, people that threaten us in some way, or even worries about our future because of illness of our own or loved ones, issues concerning our children, and even over what may be happening in the world around us.  I have no doubt that we can all think of something that has made us afraid.  So, the question is what are you doing to overcome your fears?

                             It's a fact that faith and fear are opposites.  David tells us in verse 3 that in times when he was afraid, he would put his trust in God.  And that is exactly what all of us should do: lean on our faith that allows us to trust in the only One who can calm all our fears.  The moment we leave our fears in the hands of the Almighty God, we will receive the courage to withstand whatever crisis we are facing.  When we allow our faith to take over, the fear and concern we are feeling with go away and be replaced by the peace that only God can give us.  Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "When faith is exercised, fear is banished, and holy triumph follows."

                             So exactly where do we get this fear-fighting faith?  Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.  When we fill our heart and mind with what we find in the Bible, our faith in God becomes stronger allowing Him through the Holy Spirit to show us how to drive away our fears.

                             Verse 11 of our text speaks of how a lot of our fears come from our distrust of people.  We may worry what others think about us or distrust the motives and possible agendas they have that are meant to hurt us.  But again, we learn from Paul in Romans 5:1 how our faith begins when we receive Jesus as our Savior which then gives us the peace of God.  David found through his faith in God that he could let go of his fear of those who hunted him down because God was much bigger than all of his fears.  We can do the same and let God's peace rule our life.

                             Jesus tells us in John 14:26-27:  "(26) …the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My Name; He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  (27) Peace, I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world gives, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  When we study our Bible and let it become the guide in how we live, we have everything we need to overcome whatever fear or concern we may have throughout our entire life.  We don't ever have to be upset or afraid about anything that is going on in or around us.  All we need to do is take it to the Lord and allow Him to show us the path to take or overcome whatever it is that is causing us to be afraid.

                             We have the perfect love of God when we have Jesus in our hearts and because of that, John tells us in I John 14:18 that we don't ever have to be afraid because God's perfect love takes away all of our fears.  When we accept this on faith then trust what our Bible tells us, we can be free of our fears and concerns because we have the God of all creation to see us through whatever happens in our life.  Trust in Him and allow the peace that only He can give you to settle into your heart.  When you do this, you will find that a direction will come clear when you didn't know which way to turn.  You will find that the person you were afraid of will suddenly become a nonissue.  You will find that instead of worrying about what's going on in the world you will understand that God is truly in charge and works all things together for our good in accordance with His will. 

                             From the start we were told that the Chrisitan life would not be easy.  But when we allow our faith to free us from our worries and cares, we remember that we have a God who loves us so much that He allowed His Son to die for us so we could be free of our sins and return to God's family as equal heirs with Jesus.

                    Until we meet again, may God bless and keep you, may He shine His light on you, show you grace, and give you peace in all the days ahead.