A
student was asked why she failed. She answered, “I failed because I was
afraid.” Somebody once defined fear using the acronym FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real.
Fear
is the feeling you get when you think something bad is going to happen to you. It
brings tension, anxiety, and even torment. It can make you unable to articulate
what you already know. It can paralyze you, because you already expect the
worst to happen. It causes you to be against yourself when nobody is against
you.
The
Bible helps us to understand that fear is a spirit
of bondage and that it is not from God: “For ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of
adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father”
(Romans 8:15 KJV). “For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power, and of love,
and of a sound mind”
(2 Timothy 1:7 KJV). Elsewhere, the Bible says, “The
wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion”
(Proverbs 28:1 KJV). We do not have the spirit of fear
and bondage but of boldness and liberty.
Fear
is an evil spirit. It is an enemy to your destiny,
because it can make you perform far below your capacity. It takes away your
confidence, composure,
and courage and turns you into a coward.
The
general overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E. A. Adeboye,
said in one of his sermon, “You can overcome fear by doing what fear asks you
not to do.” Now, that is called courage. Disobeying the voice of fear! You can
also overcome fear with the Word of God.
Faith is the opposite of fear, and faith comes by hearing the Word of God, but when you
focus too much on your challenges and your past failures, fear takes root in
your heart and rules over your life.
It can be seen even in the words you speak, “…for out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh.”(Matthew 12:34 KJV) But when you mediate on the Word of
God and the possibilities that God can bring your way,
even in the midst of the challenges, confidence and hope will take root in your
heart.
Scriptures like “I can do all things” and “I know the
thoughts that I think toward you are thoughts of good and not of evil”. “You
are the head and not the tail”. “And this is the confidence that we have that
he that has started a new thing in your life will bring it till the day of Jesus Christ.”
And, above all, “all things work together for your good.” You hear that? “All
things” not “some things,” not “pleasant things” but all things, for not all
good things are pleasurable.
The
Bible says that those “who live only for pleasure
are spiritually dead”
(1Timothy 5:6 TNLT). Fasting is not pleasurable, but it is very profitable
to us spiritually, physically, and mentally. Studying is not pleasurable either, but it develops the
mind.
Fear is capable of truncating your destiny by making you fail even when you are good
enough to pass. Therefore, confront it with the Word of God.
FROM
The Perfect Scholar by
Jimoh Braimoh (Jr)
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