What Do You Fear?
What do you fear? The fear of failure if you step out of your comfort zone? The fear of criticism if you won't go along with what others are doing? Embarrassment if you're asked to speak in public? Others being promoted ahead of you? Fear will raise its head in many forms and especially in all the things you think you lack. "I'm not good enough or talented enough. I don't have enough experience or the right education. I can't do it!" The enemy will use what people say and do to you as well as your circumstances to try to discourage you and stop what God has started in your life. But at the root of it all is fear.
I remember the first time Joel's father asked me to speak in church. I wanted to do it, but I was so afraid. I knew I had God's promise that He would be with me, but I got in agreement with that fear, wrapped it up in excuses for why I couldn't do it, and said no. When I gave in to the fear, I felt as though a black cloud covered me. Then I realized that the enemy was using fear to try to steal my destiny. I had to unwrap the fear and discouragement from my list of excuses and recognize them for what they really were.
In Joshua 1, Joshua and the nation of Israel stood at the border of the Promised Land, where forty years before they had failed to go in and conquer because of fear and discouragement. All the same obstacles to God's promise remained in the land-powerful nations with armies, fortified cities, and giants. God said to Joshua, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). God broke it down in the simplest terms: "You need to be strong and courageous because your biggest enemies are fear and discouragement, not armies and giants."
God's remedy to Joshua is the same remedy He gives to us. He is saying, "Don't let fear become part of your identity. Don't let discouragement define you. The only way to fight fear and discouragement, to be strong and courageous, is to take hold of My Word and obey it. Keep My words always on your lips, and discouragement and fear must flee. Get My Word into your thinking and meditate on it until it drops down into the very depths of who you are." He says He will be with you wherever you go. And if God brought Joshua to possess the Promised Land, He will bring you to possess His promises too.
I remember the first time Joel's father asked me to speak in church. I wanted to do it, but I was so afraid. I knew I had God's promise that He would be with me, but I got in agreement with that fear, wrapped it up in excuses for why I couldn't do it, and said no. When I gave in to the fear, I felt as though a black cloud covered me. Then I realized that the enemy was using fear to try to steal my destiny. I had to unwrap the fear and discouragement from my list of excuses and recognize them for what they really were.
In Joshua 1, Joshua and the nation of Israel stood at the border of the Promised Land, where forty years before they had failed to go in and conquer because of fear and discouragement. All the same obstacles to God's promise remained in the land-powerful nations with armies, fortified cities, and giants. God said to Joshua, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9). God broke it down in the simplest terms: "You need to be strong and courageous because your biggest enemies are fear and discouragement, not armies and giants."
God's remedy to Joshua is the same remedy He gives to us. He is saying, "Don't let fear become part of your identity. Don't let discouragement define you. The only way to fight fear and discouragement, to be strong and courageous, is to take hold of My Word and obey it. Keep My words always on your lips, and discouragement and fear must flee. Get My Word into your thinking and meditate on it until it drops down into the very depths of who you are." He says He will be with you wherever you go. And if God brought Joshua to possess the Promised Land, He will bring you to possess His promises too.