It was the first time I had to lead a song in front of a group of people. The sound of my heartbeat sounded louder than a bass drum in my ears. My heart was racing, my palms sweating and my knees grew weak. I was terrified! How was I supposed to do this? My voice disappeared in my stomach and it was one of the worst experiences of my life! Once again, he got me, and he got me bad this time! This time, Fear accomplished his mission.
Fear is one of the deadliest weapons of the enemy. It has the ability to stop people in their tracks and hold them down. When fear gets a grip of you, taking a step forward becomes very difficult, if not impossible. That’s why Satan uses this on us very often. Fear prevents you from accomplishing whatever task you have at hand and ultimately from accomplishing your purpose.
Taking a look at the story of the Israelites and the Philistines from 1Samuel 17 in the bible, we can see how fear can intimidate and prevent people from taking any steps forward. But there’s a more fascinating part of this story and that’s what I want to talk about today. It’s about how a teenage boy overcame fear and took that step forward that most times we fail to. I want us to look at the steps he took in overcoming fear and apply these each time fear comes knocking on our doors. So using David’s example, below are four steps we can follow in order to overcome fear.
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Be Bold; (1 Samuel 17:32)
Now David was only a teenager. Scholars say he would’ve been only about 17years old around the time he fought with Goliath. While the Israelites trembled with fear at the sight of Goliath, this teenage boy had so much boldness and was prepare to fight him. He went around the army full of big (really big) men much older and stronger (physically stronger) than he was telling them ‘not to lose heart’ because of the giant and that he was going to fight him (seriously David?). He must have looked really stupid in the eyes of everyone!
The first step you need to take when fear sets in is to be bold.
For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
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Replace Fear with Faith; (1 Samuel 17:37)
Faith is the antidote of fear. Faith will dissolve and dissipate fear. So how do you use faith against fear? Faith is an action. David’s action of faith was the words he declared against the giant and the bold step he took to go and fight him. So what fears do you have? Is it in in facing a crowd, starting a business or maybe just applying for that position? You’ve got to put faith to work!
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Prepare for battle (Get your weapons ready); 1 Samuel 17: 39 – 40
Fear is a weapon of the enemy. He’ll use it to attack you. So you’ve got to get your own weapons ready too and be prepared for battle. You have to use weapons that will work for you. Saul offered David his weapons (his armor), but these didn’t work for David. He had to go into battle with the right weapons – the right armor, one which he was used to, which was going to work for him. There is an armor that has already been prepared for us and its efficacy has already been proven. So you’ve got to check if your armor is in place; helmet-salvation, breastplate-righteousness, belt-truth, shield-faith, sword-Spirit/word of God, feet-gospel (see Ephesians 6: 10 – 18). So is your armor in place? The battle against fear is a fierce one; you have to be fully armed!
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Face it; 1 Samuel 17:48-49
When you’ve managed to find a little boldness, taken an action of faith and have fully armed yourself, it’s time to face it. This is probably the most difficult step because most of us don’t want to face our fears. We innately don’t like to be pushed out of our comfort zones. But all the other steps will make no sense until you face fear head on just like David did. While everyone else ran away from Goliath, David ran towards him instead (insane!). If you want to defeat it, you have to face it.
In your battle against fear, you may lose some rounds, maybe get punched hard a few times. But what’s important is you keep fighting till you win. Do not let fear stop you from being what God called you to be. Do not let fear make you settle for less and please do not let fear stop you from accomplishing your purpose!
For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
Remain blessed
Apiseh