by
Baruch Okpulor
Writer, Author and HSE Manager
It
is obvious that fear is a common human experience for saints and sinners alike.
When we stand before
the giants of evil, disease and death, joblessness, business failure,
barrenness, poverty, divorce or struggling relationship, we may shake with fear
at the beginning of the ordeal.
The writer of Psalm 64
prayed, “Preserve my life from dread of the enemy” (64:1). Fear so filled him
that he thought he was going to die.
When Paul, the apostle,
went to Corinth for the first time, fear gripped him and he said, “I am with
you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1Corinthians 2:3).
Perhaps he saw the
bigness of his task and the depth of the sin that he would have to confront and
his heart quaked as he took in the situation he was facing.
Spiritually, there are
two types of fear. The first one is more like dread. It is seizes us as we
prepare to enter some great trial or difficulty. This was the experience of Paul when he
began to preach at Corinth.
The second one is
wholesome respect for God. Paul said of rebellious sinners, “there is no fear
of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18).
It is this type of fear
that is “the beginning of knowledge” (Proverb 1:7a). The first kind is of this
earth, but the second kind is from God.
The first kind kills and debilitates, the second kind heals and
saves.
How are we to handle
earthly terror and dread?
In short, the answer is
this: we must face it with faith.
However, we can be more
specific.
First:
We Must Look Up
When we are overwhelmed
by fear, we should look at God on His throne. Look up to heaven and remember
what God had done for His people in the past, what he is doing presently and
what his omnipotent power will accomplish in future .
From the confines of
trouble, we look at Him and are persuaded to believe that all is well with us
and God is in charge of us and will see that our needs are met.
We see forces around us
that are bigger than we are, and it is easy to allow them to overcome us when
trouble or confusion comes, looking up reminds us that God has not relinquished
his throne to anyone.
He is in us, is working
through us, and is going ahead of us.
When the pains of life
wanted to overwhelmed King David, he said with faith, “the Lord is my light and
salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I
dread? “(Psalm 27:1)
Second:
We Must Look Within
When our heart is
filled with fear, we ought to talk to ourselves and demand that we look at the
situation with faith instead of fear.
We must think of the
power, strength and protection that come from God instead of focusing on the
problem.
Our focus will
determine whether we will be controlled by our faith or our fear.
Who we are determines
what we see.
Third:
We Must Look Back
In the midst of a
fearful situation, we can remember how God has always treated people who
trusted him in the past.
He watched over Joseph when he was sold into slavery
and over the two years he spent in prison as a result of Portipher’s wife
allegation of sexual harassment.
Recall how God protected David as
he faced the Philistine warlord and giant, Goliath.
In our world, God
continues to do great miracles and grant supernatural deliverances.
These evidences unite to say
that God is stronger than all the other forces around us put together.
We can overcome
anything because greater is He who is in us than who is in the world.
Fourth:
We Must Look Ahead
God holds our future.
He determines it. God will do great things for us to attract glory to Himself.
We can do all through Christ who strengthens us because we are the “personal
property” of God.
The knowledge that we
are living in God is the antidote to fear.
When we remember what
God has said to us, our fears are wiped away by faith.
For He himself has
said, “I will never dissent you, nor will I ever forsake you”.
Contact Baruch on baruch.okpulor@presidency.com
