Fear's kryptonite
Yes, fear has an enemy!
Being controlled by fear is not God’s plan for us!
By now, I hope we are all convinced that being controlled by fear is not God’s plan for us, and is not the way we want to live our lives. Having faced that fact, it is exciting to know that there is an ace in the hole when it comes to fighting fear, “fear’s kryptonite”.
It has been said that the opposite of fear is faith. Without faith, we cannot please God. (Hebrews 11:6) And without faith, we cannot live a life free from fear.
We are given many examples of what faith looks like:
In Genesis 22, we see God ask Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham took Isaac and headed to the mountain to fulfill God’s command. On the way Isaac asked where the lamb was for the burnt offering. Abraham, having complete confidence in God, said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering my son.” Abraham exhibited complete faith in God.
Then, in I Samuel 14, we see Jonathan planning to attack the Philistines with only his armor-bearer for back-up. He told his armor-bearer, “Come let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” (vs 6) Again, we see that Jonathan had complete trust in God.
We also see the same unshakable faith in David when he was facing Goliath (I Samuel 17:37), Gideon facing the Midianites (Judges 6-7), Jehoshaphat facing the enemy’s army (II Chronicles 20:20), Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16), and many, many others.
All of these men had excellent reason to question God’s plan and instructions. Most were in very real danger of losing their lives. In Abraham’s case, he was asked to give up the most precious thing he had – his son. But none of these people questioned God’s commands. They accepted that God knew best, and they were rewarded for their faithfulness. We see that in every case, blessings came because of their obedience. I think these guys were not strangers to “The Blessing Road.” They knew how to trust and obey completely. They had had practice obeying God’s commands.
When we get to that spot, we will not fall prey to peace-robbing doubts and fears.
So, how do we get to the place where these people were? Where we can trust God completely, and have faith to believe that His plan is best even when it doesn’t make sense to us? When we get to that spot, we will not fall prey to peace-robbing doubts and fears.
Just as we were commanded not to fear, we also are commanded to believe. As light dispels darkness, so faith dispels fear. In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, (2:22) he says, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” In this verse, we are commanded to pursue faith.
A clear illustration of what it means to pursue something can be found on the football field. When a runner gets loose with the ball heading toward the goal line, the defensive player will run after him with all his might. That defensive player isn’t going to slow down or stop for anything or anyone until he has caught that runner. That is what our pursuit of faith should be like. We have to run after it with everything that we have, allowing nothing to stop our pursuit.
I know, you are probably thinking that if faith were visible, like a football, it would be a lot easier to pursue. (I agree! Lol!) Let’s just imagine that the runner carrying the ball is completely invisible (like faith). What if the pursuer has a voice in his ear giving directions: “head toward eleven o’clock, straight ahead now, he’s a foot in front of you, press forward with everything you’ve got, a little closer, okay dive straight ahead and you will have him”? This might not be as easy as being able to actually see the runner, but with time the pursuer would get quite good at following the directions being given by the voice in his ear.
Do you want to take up the pursuit, or stay where you are?
That’s the way it is with us. We have to learn to listen to the voice speaking to us. We have to spend time hearing that voice and knowing what the words mean, so that in the moment when our pursuit needs to be the hardest and most effective, we will be prepared and ready for the challenge.
Just like any other learned skill, it requires time and dedication. Football players do not achieve great skill by sitting around all day doing whatever they want. During those years, training becomes the main activity of their lives. Neither do we learn to follow the directions whispered into our hearts by doing nothing. It too takes training. It takes spending time with the one who is directing our lives. It takes listening over and over until eventually we find that we easily recognize and understand the voice that is speaking. But it doesn’t start out that way. It is a relationship that must be sought after and purposefully pursued.
We have numerous promises from God that if we pursue Him, we will find Him:
Psalm 34:4 “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”
II Chronicles 15:1-2 “The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake Him he will forsake you.’”
Psalm 145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
When we pursue God, we will find Him.
It becomes crystal clear that when we pursue God, we will find Him. It becomes clear that the only way to grow our faith strong enough to conquer fear is to spend time with Him. All too often, we put off having time with God, or we decide Bible study can wait until another day, or prayer is just too awkward to pursue. We all have to make a decision: “Is my peace worth the pursuit necessary to attain it?” In Ephesians 6:16, we are told, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Fear is definitely one of the flaming darts of the evil one. We are given the ace in the hole for our fight against fear and it’s resulting anxiety – fear’s “kryptonite” if you will. But too many times it just seems like too much trouble to pursue. Isaiah 26:3 promises, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Faith is guaranteed to drive out fear. So…do you want to take up the pursuit, or stay where you are?
GUARD RAIL: Pursue faith
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV)