Fear
is our enemy, not our friend
By
Victoria Boyson
One
of my favorite movies is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
It is an old western with John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart.
Wayne plays a tough gun fighter with a good heart. Stewart
plays a lawyer who recently moved out west from the east
coast. He is not yet familiar with the rough ways of the
West. Wayne continually tries to help Stewart learn about
the West, and he often defends him against the unscrupulous
outlaw Liberty Valance.
Stewart
eventually faces off with Valance in a shootout, and Valance
is killed. He and everyone else believes that it is he
who killed Valance. However, during the notorious shootout,
Wayne hid in the shadows and secretly shot Valance to
save his friend's life.
Jimmy
Stewart was terribly outgunned when he went out to fight
Valance, but he was sick and tired of Valance getting
away with terrorizing everyone. He knew there was a very
good chance he would be killed by Valance, but he also
knew he had to stand up to him. Just as Wayne was there
to cover Stewart, we can trust our God to assist us as
we stand up to the enemy.
So
often, we are afraid to stand up to our enemy. The devil
terrorizes us and we let him get away with it. The children
of Israel were afraid of Goliath until the Lord raised
up David, who simply trusted in God.
Take
a Stand
Knowing something had to be done with the arrogant Philistine,
he asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine
that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”
(1 Samuel 17:26b). David knew that “The Lord who
delivered (him) from the paw of the lion and the paw of
the bear (would) deliver (him) from the hand of (the)
Philistine” (Samuel 17:37).
He
trusted that if he went up against Goliath, he would beat
him, not because of who he was, but because God was on
his side backing him up. He knew he only had to step out
and fight against his enemy, and God would give him the
victory.
“As
the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly
toward the battle line to meet him” (verse 48).
He ran quickly toward the battle because his faith in
God was strong. The victory had nothing to do with David,
but it had everything to do with his God. David threw
the stone, but God killed the giant. After Goliath was
killed, the Philistines ran away—not because they
feared David but because they feared David's God.
We,
too, can go boldly into battle, because we have a great
God who loves us and who will defend us. We can, like
David, face the things we fear, and God will be standing
by our side ready to defeat our enemies, if only we will
step out in faith and stand up to them.
Fear
No Evil
“ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod
and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
If
you entered into a war in the natural realm with vastly
greater weapons than your enemy, you would have no fear.
If you had a missile and they had only a pistol, you would
not fear your enemy. You would be assured of an overwhelming
victory before you even engaged them in battle.
So
it is with us as the children of God. When we stand in
battle, we can be assured of victory, because we have
a powerful weapon—God. When God is on our side,
however great the odds against us are in the natural,
we need not fear our enemy. God is our defender, and no
matter how our enemy may boast, we can have peace. We
will not fear, because HE is with us, and we can find
comfort in His kindness and safety in His strength.
God
is on our side; therefore, we have no reason to fear evil.
All we need to do is stand strong in faith against our
adversary and God will give us the victory. If we simply
“throw the stone,” God will take care of the
giant! The enemy knows we have all the power we need to
defeat him through the authority of Christ, and satan
is terrified that we will walk in it. He will do anything
to try and keep us believing his lies of defeat and inability.
It
is not about us, the enemy or the battle, but it is all
about the God who loves us. He wants to see His children
stand strong, not because they are confident in themselves,
but in Him.
Our
Great Big God
If, in every situation we entered, we were confident God
was there with us, we would not fear anything. Again,
in Psalm 23:4, it says, “Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for
You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort
me.” Our bravery is based on His power and strength.
We are strengthened by the Creator of the universe standing
by our side, and nothing shall by any means harm us.
No
one is more powerful than God, and He is always with us,
ready to defend. We have nothing to fear because, even
in the face of death, our almighty Father will devour
our enemies. There is NO power greater than our God; He
is our strength and shield. Our enemies tremble in fear
before us as they see the power of God radiating out from
inside us.
Pray
this with me: Dear Creator God, though I walk through
the very shadow of death, I will NOT fear, because You,
oh Lord, are with me. With Your help, I will be Your fearless
warrior! I will not fear anything but You. I pray that
You would manifest Your power through me so that others
might trust in You! In Jesus' name, amen.
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