Turning Fear Into Faith, Part 2

God is keenly sensitive to our tendency to feel afraid. He knew we’d often fret and feel threatened by obstacles and situations we can’t control.

Why else would the most repeated command in the Bible be “Do not fear”?  And the command isn’t delivered in a mean-spirited, finger-pointing fashion.  In most instances, reasons not to worry accompany the command (such as “Do not fear, for I am with you…” in Isaiah 41:10).  One scholar counted 366 occurrences of this imperative, one for each day of the year, including leap year!

My previous article, “Turning Fear Into Faith,” introduced you to a military threat facing King Jehoshaphat and the nation of Judah (2 Chronicles 20).  I explained three indispensable insights for handling fear, concluding that faith isn’t necessarily the absence of fear, but giving our fear over to a powerful, loving God.  If you haven’t read it, use this link to do so:

 

Even if you did read it, skim 2 Chronicles 20 again before proceeding with this post, paying special attention to the last half of the narrative.  Though what follows aren’t superficial suggestions that instantly eliminate fear, applying these new insights may nudge you a bit closer to that elusive state called “the peace of God.”   What will inflate our faith and minimize our fears?

 

Rehearsing Memories of God’s Past Faithfulness

In 2 Chronicles 20, after citing a couple attributes of God and before pleading for His intervention, Jehoshaphat looked over his shoulder and saw God’s past involvement with His chosen people.  “Did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?  Didn’t our people build You a sanctuary for Your name?” (vs. 7).  As a way to bolster his faith in view of the present threat, the king reviewed past military conquests spearheaded by the Lord.

Faith to face current fear-inducing trials has its roots in our personal history.  What provisions have you received that can only be explained by the words, “God did it”?  What relationships has He  reconciled?  How has He employed past trials to deepen your character and enhance your intimacy with Him?

God strongly advocates cultivating memories of His past interventions.  Those memories show attributes such as His power and love.  Those qualities aren’t embedded in a sterile listing of His traits, rather fleshed out in actual threatening situations.

*In Psalm 78:40-53 and 106:6-25, multiple times God equated Israel’s moral erosion with a forgetfulness of specific past deeds He had performed for them.  Remembering is integral to spiritual formation.

*After the Jewish remnant who returned from Babylonia rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem and restored worship functions, a part of the corporate celebration was a recital of God’s merciful acts from the past (Nehemiah 9).

*A number of times in the Old Testament, in the context of conveying instructions to His people, God employed the phrase “I am the God who_________,” finishing the sentence with a specific historical act, such as parting the Red Sea or providing manna in the wilderness.

*Jesus had just fed a multitude with a small serving of loaves and fish–for the second time.  Nonetheless, while they were in a boat with Jesus shortly thereafter, the disciples voiced concern about having no bread.  Jesus responded by giving them a review lesson:  “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread?   Do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?”  They answered. “Twelve.”  “And when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?”  They said, “Seven.”  Then Jesus added, “Do you not yet understand?”

They failed to “put the past into the present tense.”  Their worry over a current need should have been assuaged by what they had seen Him do, and the fact that He was with them in the boat.

Oh,  how many times when I’ve fretted  has the Holy Spirit whispered, “Terry, do you remember when I…..?” and completed the sentence with a specific reminder of His past faithfulness.

Make a list.  What has the Lord done for you and your family in the past?  What difference shlould these memories have on your reaction to a current threat?  In view of your current fear-inducing circumstance, say to Him, “Do it again, Lord!”

“____(Your Name)_____________, do you remember when I….?

 

Realize God’s Enduring Presence

After Jehoshaphat’s public prayer, God spurred Jahaziel to predict an upset victory by Judah.  He insisted, “the battle is not yours, but God’s” (vs. 15).  Then he cited another factor to quell their fear:  “Tomorrow go out and face them, for the Lord is with you” (vs. 17).

Memorize verses that promise the presence of God.  Too often we don’t feel His presence, or we don’t see objective evidence of it, and doubt surfaces. But His Word that promises His presence is far more reliable than our fickle feelings that question His presence.  Do we really believe the following reassurances?

*”Do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

*Facing a fearful band of disciples before His physical departure from earth, Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever” (John 14:16). The Holy Spirit resides within every Christian (Romans 8:9), so it’s impossible for a child of God to be without His presence.

*Quoting Deuteronomy 31:6,  the author of Hebrews reminded his readers,  “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

Not when you’re so depressed you’re emotionally numb and start thinking death would be preferable to your misery.

Not when you’ve lost your job and you wonder where the money for the house payment will come from.

Not when there’s another emotionally-draining argument with your estranged grown child.

Not when you’ve fallen to the same temptation again and wonder how God can still love you.

Awareness of His presence doesn’t make life easy, but the knowledge can make it better and inject a dosage of hope for a brighter future. I didn’t memorize those verses on His presence because I’m spiritual; rather, because I’m not. I’m weak and need the buoyancy His Word provides (Ps. 119:49-50, 92, 156, 165).

The story of Joseph reminds me that the vacillating circumstances of life do not alter the fact that He’s always with me.  During his early years in Egypt, “The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man…His master saw that the Lord was with Him, and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper” (Gen. 39:2-3).

Then came the false accusation by Potiphar’s wife, and a couple years when Joseph languished in jail.  Yet even in jail, “the Lord was with Joseph” (Gen. 39:21).  Let’s never equate setbacks with a lack of God’s presence.

When you face difficult obstacles, what difference should it make to know that God is with you?  What should you do in light of this awareness?

 

Render Praise While the Threat Causing Fear Is Still Present

It’s one thing to praise God for His deliverance or intervention.  It’s another thing altogether to offer praise before He has acted to relieve the source of anxiety.  Yet that’s a special grace He is capable of giving.

After God prompted Jahaziel to predict victory and to assure the people of God’s presence–long before the threat dissipated–Jehoshaphat and all the people “fell down before the Lord, worshipping the Lord” (vs. 18). Then you see Jehoshaphat and the Levites implement the most far-fetched military strategy in the history of warfare:  the choir led the army to the battlefield where they expected to fight their foes.  “He appointed those who sang to the Lord and those who praised Him in holy attire, as they went out before the army and said, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting'” (vs. 21).

Would you have volunteered to sing in that choir?  I think I would have asked for armor to wear under my robe.

Jehoshaphat believed God had spoken through Jahaziel, and the faith exhibited by their king was contagious.  Their faith stemmed from who God is, what He had done for them in the past, and what He had promised through His prophet. Praise that comes in the midst of such a threat pleases God to no end.

Before He provides a new job, for what attributes, deeds, or promises can you praise Him?

Before He softens the hard heart of a loved one, what reasons to honor Him can you identify?

Before you inform your employer that you cannot follow through on a task you consider unethical–before you know how he will react–will you worship God for who He is and what He has already done for you?  Will you believe that God will honor your obedience, no matter how the boss reacts?

Is it possible God delays His intervention until we come to the point depicted in Habakkuk 3:17-19?  “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I shall rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength.”

That’s standing on the front row of the choir without any armor!

In 2 Chronicles 20, God honored the faith of His people.  God set ambushes against the opposing forces (not involving Judah’s soldiers), then members of the various armies marshaled against them started destroying each other until not a survivor was left. Without lifting a finger to gain the victory, the king and his army spent three days  cherry-picking from the spoil. Then “the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel “(vs. 29).

Here’s the primary takeaway:  from God’s perspective, the greater victory came prior to the destruction of their foes.  It was an internal victory, not an external one. Their faith, demonstrated against all odds, was far more impressive than God’s intervention on the battlefield.

I recall the young lady who stood with hundreds of other worshippers to sing a praise chorus.  Still in her 30s, with a couple young kids, her husband had died in a dune buggy accident a few weeks before.  Complementing the pain of her loss was uncertainty about finances, and all that’s involved in being a single mom.  But fear over her future didn’t win that Sunday morning.  She sang the lyrics loudly as tears cascaded down her face.  How pleased the Lord was with that kind of praise!

While the fearful situation still hovers over you, for what can you legitimately praise God?

The story in 2 Chronicles 20 demonstrates the truth of Psalm 50:15:  “Call on Me in the day of trouble.  I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”