Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of The Most-High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
The issue of fear is something the human family has had to deal with, ever since our first parents sinned in Eden. Fear is a part of the fabric of life on planet earth and even though we do serve an all-powerful God, the Christian at times experiences fear, some more, some less.
The reason why the issue of fear would have to be confronted, is because, if it is left alone, it can then trigger a number of adverse side effects which have the potential to alter our faith, and trust in God, and in consequence, we could begin to assess situations and draw conclusions, the same way the worldling does.
The secular mind does not generally incorporate the miraculous or the supernatural into its thoughts and actions, and the teaching of evolution never makes any allowance for God.
Therefore, whenever trouble comes as it certainly would, and when a dangerous situation arises, the natural response is to go into panic mode, and leave the God factor out of the question.
This has happened over and over again in the Bible, and as we approach the final conflict of the ages, in which the forces of good and evil are scheduled to come to a head, the fear factor, and the God factor will come face to face, and depending on a person’s relationship with God either fear, or faith will then be vanquished.
Fear has the potential to crystalize faith, and if it is allowed to run riot, it could freeze hope and trust in God, and could cause, even the most conscientious Christian to make a wrong decision on the spur of the moment, which he or she may never have made under more favorable circumstances.
Thus, the Lord encourages our faith to shine brightly when the going gets rough, and we must remember to take hold of the arm of Omnipotence, even when the giants in the land might loom larger than life. In fact, fear is the favorite tool of satan to try to drive the Christian to do the unthinkable.
When fear went unbridled and unrestrained, in the experiences of David, it caused him to play the mad man, and in doing so, he let his spittle run down his beard, even as he scrabbled unintelligible writings on the wall. The situation was that David had fled to the Philistines, in order to escape from Saul.
Whilst in their company someone recognized him as the one who had recently killed Goliath, and when David realized that they knew who he was, he went into a full blown panic mode, resorting to stratagem and acting a lie, in order to save himself from what he saw as certain retribution. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 21: 11 And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.
13 And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.
14 Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me?
The Christian has to practice speaking the truth in difficult, and even dangerous circumstances, as it is currently. We would have to trust God, and let the chips fall where they may. Your firm decision to be truthful, in every situation is a must, for if we leave truth up to chance we would become the sport of circumstances.
Satan specializes in structuring situations so that the default setting would be falsehood, in order to save oneself from any undesirable outcome. This he has done on numerous occasions, and with alarming success, for it is one of his devices, referred to in the Scriptures.
Especially would this be the case moving forward, as many will be tempted to resort to plan B, meaning, that some might consider employing falsehoods, to avoid an uncomfortable situation, to say the least. We must always keep in mind that it’s the truth that will set you free, never falsehood.
Trusting in God, in the fullest sense, is not always an easy matter, and there will be those times when the Christian would find himself between a rock, and a hard place. “Fear not” is God’s word to us today, as we face mounting challenges on every side. In fact, the phrase “fear not” is written in the Bible about 170 times, for a valid reason.
Fear drove David to tell a blatant lie to the priest at Nob, and by so doing, the priest, and others were slain by Saul as a direct result. Fear often drives the Christian to tell lies, and once that route is taken, in some cases it could very well turn out to be the final nail in the coffin, literally, as we will see. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 22: 7 Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him hear now you Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;
8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that shows me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or shows unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?
9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub.
10 And he enquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.
11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king.
16 And the king said, thou shalt surely die Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house.
18 And the king said to Doeg, turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod.
19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
Fear caused Adam and Eve to hide from God, and drove them to tailormade clothes of leaves, which God had to replace with His clothes made of skins.
Fear caused Job’s wife to suggest the unthinkable to curse God and die, and if Job’s faith had not been strong to confront his own fears, we may have had a completely different narrative about his latter end. Let’s read:
Job 3: 25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
Again, when the giant Goliath railed against Saul’s army, when he defied the God of heaven, and when he threatened to make an example of anyone who dared to fight him, fear then sent the hosts of Israel scrambling, and consequently, as it always does, it caused persons to lose sight of the God factor.
Fear also caused the disciples to forsake Christ, and flee, and it drove Peter to rattle off a series of words that no Elder should utter. It was fear that drove him to say that he didn’t know Christ and it was fear that drove him to mingle with the mob who were at that time ridiculing Christ, and to pretend that he was their buddy, when in fact he was not.
This is another snare of satan, because he has seen that in many instances the fear of ridicule and scorn can drive the Christian to try to be cool, in order to disguise their faith in God. Christians must never try to be cool, but rather, should be humbly proud to be called a peculiar people. Let’s read:
[The Desire of Ages pp 712] Peter tried to show no interest in the trial of his Master, but his heart was wrung with sorrow as he heard the cruel taunts, and saw the abuse He was suffering.
More than this, he was surprised and angry that Jesus should humiliate Himself and His followers by submitting to such treatment. In order to conceal his true feelings, he endeavored to join with the persecutors of Jesus in their untimely jests.
But his appearance was unnatural. He was acting a lie, and while seeking to talk unconcernedly he could not restrain expressions of indignation at the abuse heaped upon his Master.
Again, it was their fear of the giants that drove the Hebrews to pick up missiles to stone Moses, and it drove them to literally select a captain to take them back down into Egypt. It all stemmed from fear, that issue which we must all confront someday.
So yes, it is a tried, and true snare of satan, to inject fear into the heart of the Christian, and if God is not brought into the equation, things can unravel pretty quickly, and drive the Christian into survival mode.
But the Christian is not to focus on survival, but on surrender to Christ, for therein will lie our ultimate safety, as our first passage tells us. In the experience of Elijah, it became necessary for him to hide from Saul, but because he trusted in God he was directed where to go, so that he could never be found.
In fact, the brook Cherith was not located very many miles from Saul’s own palace, and thus, God had the deranged king going around in circles looking for the prophet who was found to be dwelling in the secret place of The Most-High.
The Hebrews, on the other hand had the tendency to lose sight of God, whenever they faced perilous situations. And therefore, we should learn valuable lessons from their experiences, so that we can avoid taking the same route. Let’s read:
Numbers 13:27 And they told him and said we came unto the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
28 Nevertheless the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.
31 But the men that went up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.
33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Most of what the ten spies said was true, for the people of Canaan were indeed strong, the cities were walled, and yes, it is true that the sons of Anak were living there too.
These facts cannot and should not be denied, but to conclude that just because of the raw facts on the ground that they are not able to take over the land is where the error in judgement lies.
Faith in God does not dispense with real to life facts on the ground, it does not bury its head in the sand in order to live in a make-believe world. However, it is necessary for the God-factor to be incorporated in the assessments and planning, so as to facilitate the miraculous outcome that God is so often willing and ready to bestow.
Following this last vein of thought, we are not to kid ourselves into believing that the time of trouble, spoken of by the Bible prophets would be a breeze to overcome. It won’t be a breeze by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact, the description given by the prophets is that it will be much more severe and dangerous than any previous troubles that have engulfed the earth, thus making it unique, in the sense that it would bring a climax to earth’s history permanently.
Yet, for all of the intensity, and bloodshed, and the troubles that are scheduled to cover the face of the earth the Christian must never lose sight of The God Factor, for if this is done, fear will consume faith and hope will be sacrificed on the altar of anxiety.
Thus, we should be cognizant of the realities on the ground at this time, while at the same time keeping faith and hope alive, for it is only as we trust in God that the terrors of the last days could be held in the proper perspective. Let’s read:
Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Jeremiah 30:5 For thus saith the Lord; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
[The Great Controversy pp 622] The “time of trouble such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal.
[The Great Controversy pp 829] The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation, and suffer for want of food, they will not be left to perish. That God who cared for Elijah will not pass by one of his self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of their head will care for them, and in time of famine they shall be satisfied.
The ghosts of Goliath are flitting around all over the place nowadays, and the Canaanite duppy is now on the loose, to try to make the God of Israel seem small and to try to shake confidence in His ability to overrule adverse events.
We should now be managing our expectations very prudently, for we are not to expect deliverance at the first signs of trouble. Our faith will be severely tested, and yes, there would be trials of no ordinary character that will assail the Christian.
Yet, in all, and through it all, we are to remember that God is still in control, and He who is found in Christ will be made secure. God will be with us as we pass through the fire and the floods, so that they will not overwhelm, but purify.
The purpose of passing gold through the fire is not to destroy, but rather to remove all dross. Thus, the trial of our faith, should not drive us to forget or to question God, but rather to cooperate with Him, as He puts on the finishing touches to prepare us for heaven.
Therefore, whenever the Christian becomes afraid, it is time to remember and repeat the promises of God for such a time as this. Try to avoid consuming too much bad news, for it can affect your psyche as well as your faith, for the more the mind dwells on the giants in the land, the lesser God’s power to save and deliver will become.
Dwell instead on God’s promises, and try to bring to mind the many chapters in your experience, when God delivered you over and over again. As we call to mind His miraculous interventions in our behalf, we will be greatly strengthened and encouraged to face tribulation, persecution, fire and flood.
We therefore end with two passages of Scripture which should strengthen, encourage and prepare the Christian for what is looming on the horizon, for there’s no doubt that the world has turned a corner into extreme spiritual darkness, which mirrors the prophecies of end-time events too closely. We read:
Psalms 56: 3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4 In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Psalms 91: 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day;
6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most-High, thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
God Bless!