Rise Up in His Strength and Fear Not!

1Samuel 17:1, 8-11 NKJV  Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.  (8)  Then he (Goliath) stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.  (9)  If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”  (10)  And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.”  (11)  When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

 Previously, we looked at how focusing on the circumstance and not the reality of the Word of God and His promises will allow fear to set in.  Instead, we should equip ourselves with His Word concerning His promises for us will cause faith to rise so we can confront those things causing fear in our lives and defeat them.  Now let’s look at why the Israelites were afraid.

Undoubtedly, the sheer size, strength, and obnoxious brashness of Goliaths attitude was intimidating.  I sure wouldn’t have wanted to fight that guy.  Still, the root of Israel’s fear wasn’t the size of the foe.  Their fear was rooted in the perception of their own natural ability instead of faith in a faithful God.  Israel had many skilled warriors, who had defeated many foes.  These warriors carefully considered their speed, strength, skill, and weaponry against that of their foe.  Having done so, they considered and saw themselves as unable to win.  Their fear was less with the size of their opponent and more in their ability to compete.

They trusted in what they knew about.  They were warriors who knew about, weapons, strategy, armament, etc…  Their trust was in themselves and not in God.  The root of their fear was not in how big the circumstance was, but in their confidence that God was able to see them thru.

In order to stand up against the Goliaths of bills, disease, confrontation, ridicule, intimacy, darkness, public speaking, death, and fill in the blank you need to look at more than your ability to overcome them.  You must trust in the Lord and look unto Him, who has provided you with the strength and victory over every fear and every circumstance.  People trust in what they know about and understand.  Get to know Him, His promises, and His victory.  Seek out understanding who you are in Him.  Then rise up in His strength and Fear Not!