BBD 05.21.14 Facing Our Fears (New)
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The Burning
Bush Devotional
05.21.14
Facing
Our Fears
Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them
is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do
not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. - Luke 12:6-7
NKJV.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV.
So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What
can man do to me?” - Hebrews 13:6 NKJV.
Have
you ever been afraid to leave your home? Some people are and it is a well-known
psychological phobia called Agoraphobia. The Mayo
Clinic website has some good information about the phobia and says this,
“People with
agoraphobia often have a hard time feeling safe in any public place, especially
where crowds gather. You may feel that you need a companion, such as a relative
or friend, to go with you to public places. The fears can be so overwhelming
that you may feel unable to leave your home. Agoraphobia treatment can be
challenging because it usually means confronting your fears.”
Personally,
I’ve had a fear of getting out of bed on a few mornings. It wasn’t Agoraphobia,
it was just what I knew was waiting for me at work that day! If you have
experienced that, you’re okay and it’s not Agoraphobia. However, those who do
actually have the phobia may experience panic attacks, rapid heart rate,
excessive sweating, feeling shaky, numb or tingling, chest pain, or pressure,
dizziness, and a lot of other unpleasant symptoms. Check the Mayo Clinic site
for a more complete list.
The
word fear is mentioned 359 times in the NKJV of
the Bible and 385 times in the KJV. The phrase “fear
not” is in the NKJV ten times and in the KJV 63 times. Fear is common to
the human condition. Every person ever living upon this earth has experienced
fear to some degree. So how do we cope with something that we all must face?
Fear
can be overwhelming to the extent that it paralyses our lives making any kind
of action almost impossible. I read a story this morning about crossing the
street in Vietnam. If you want to cross the street in Vietnam you will have to
forget about your fears and “charge
straight ahead.” A Vietnam Travel Guide says
this about it: “You
want to get to the other end of the street, but it does not look quite
feasible. Unless you try it. Crossing over the jam is actually not that bad.
You will just have to do it. The magic is that no one will ever run into you.”
(Vietnam Online; Sumitra 05.20.14)
The way
you have to cross the street in Vietnam is somewhat similar to how we
Christians must face our fears in life. Knowing that God is with us and that we
in God’s eyes are of great value we too need to “charge straight ahead.” As it has been noted by many, if you want
to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat. If we want to experience the
abundant life that Jesus came to give us (John 10:10)
we have to climb out of bed in the morning, put on our game face, open the door
of our home, and face our fears. Remember this: “You
are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you
is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).”
Copyright © 2014. Ed Wrather. The
Burning Bush website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998
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