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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s a more fascinating part of this story and that\u2019s what I want to talk about today. It\u2019s 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\u2019s example, below are four steps we can follow in order to overcome fear.<\/p>\n
Now David was only a teenager. Scholars say he would\u2019ve 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 \u2018not to lose heart\u2019 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!<\/p>\n
The first step you need to take when fear sets in is to be bold.<\/p>\n
For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and love and a sound mind.\u00a0 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019ve got to put faith to work!<\/p>\n Fear is a weapon of the enemy. He’ll use it to attack you. So you\u2019ve 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\u2019t work for David. He had to go into battle with the right weapons \u2013 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\u2019ve 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 \u2013 18). So is your armor in place? The battle against fear is a fierce one; you have to be fully armed!<\/p>\n\n
Replace Fear with Faith<\/strong>; (1 Samuel 17:37<\/em>)<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Prepare for battle (Get your weapons ready<\/strong>); 1 Samuel 17: 39 \u2013 40<\/em><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n