Overcoming Fearનમૂનો

ANSWERING THE CALL

When we hear of fear robbing people of their future, it’s easy to think of the people with great failures, but fear hits the heroes as well. Many times, God’s call is intimidating. It may be stepping out in business, sharing the gospel with friends or family; it may be leading the family in prayer, or standing up for what is right in a culture that is headed away from it, or even being martyred. Parenting to honor God instead of to please our children can be scary. Many times, fear of rejection and failure causes us to hold back from where God is leading us.

Countless Bible characters faced fear as God called them. Three times in the first chapter of Joshua, he is told to be strong and courageous. (Joshua 1:6-7, 9) Gideon and Moses' first response to God’s call was fear and doubt. When we look to ourselves to accomplish God’s call, it will leave us afraid. Looking in the mirror to see what God can do puts the focus on our ability instead of God’s. In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul shares that God’s strength shines where we are weak. God’s call will feel like more than we can do on our own because we aren’t meant to do it on our own.

When God called Moses, He spoke to him from a burning bush. He said He heard the cry of the Israelites and wanted to set them free. I am sure this excited Moses, as he had ended up in the desert after running away from his own failed attempt to rescue the people. But when God said that He was going to send Moses, everything changed. It was the problem he wanted solved, but he wanted someone else to do it. In a paraphrase of Exodus 3:11 it says, “Who am I that I should go…” God’s answer was “I WILL BE WITH YOU.” Moses responded with all that he wasn’t good at, blaming his inability to speak well. God responded that He made his mouth and would teach him what to say.

Gideon was also called by God and responded with fear and doubt. God again says he will be with him. In fact, He thinned Gideon’s Army down until there was no way without God to make things happen.

When we don’t feel like we are enough, we can be filled with fear or we can look to God’s ability. As we face the fear and circumstances that we don’t know how to handle, God’s direction is to look to Him. God is more than enough.