Relax!
Isaiah 43: 2 “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”
Do not be afraid! Instead have the kind of confidence, the God kind of confidence that is hinged in God’s truth. Why? You should not be afraid because as a child of God, you never go through crisis alone. The choice to tap into God or not is another thing entirely. But be confident about this very thing, you never go through crisis alone. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. If God is near then there is no fear. Since God is near then there is no fear. You and I must be focused on God’s closeness.
Chill Pill
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [NIV, with emphasis]
I have had to travel by air a number of times and in this short period I have seen some turbulence, but nothing like what I experienced on one particular flight – and, I have not seen a storm like it till this very day. The pilots described what we faced as a “lightning mine”. We could literally see the lightning miss the wing of the aircraft by inches. And sometimes the plane would be in free fall for about twenty seconds. It was a terrible experience.
Jesus Is Near
Ps.145:18 “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. 19 …He also will hear their cry and save them” [NKJV, with emphasis]
We are going to look at three practical ways to respond as Jesus did. There are three practical ways to respond in peace and totally banish the fear of unexpected crisis from our lives. The first practical thing you and I must do is to refocus on God’s closeness. Get your mind off the crisis and onto Christ. Matt.8:23 “Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.” Jesus was in the same boat with His disciples. Jesus was near. God is near. The presence of Jesus does not mean the storms will not happen.
In Faith
Matt.8: 24 “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” [NIV]
From today’s Scripture reference, we can see that there are two ways to respond to storms. The disciples exemplify the first way, which is to panic. They panicked and all their years of experience faded away. Jesus exemplifies the second way to react to storms, Matt.8:24 “…so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” Jesus responded in peace. Don’t you just love Jesus?
The first thing we see in this story about Jesus is that He was human. Jesus had preached all day and he was tired. Jesus was human. Read the rest of this entry
Victor, Victoria!
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [NIV, with emphasis]
Jesus says in this world you will have tribulation but you are not without hope. So be of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world. What this means for us is that through Jesus we too will overcome the world. Characteristically, trials are inevitable, of different types, impartial and they are unpredictable. Crisis is unpredictable. Matt.8:24 “Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping”. The storm came without warning. Crisis just happens and it happens without any Read the rest of this entry
God’s Power
Matt.5:45 “…For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”
It is so unfortunate that a lot of people have bought into the lie that once you become a Christian, all your problems will go away. Have you heard that before? It is a big lie! Your life and my life are proof that that is not the gospel. That is a gospel but not The Gospel. You are going to have the same problems everyone else has. However, the difference is that you are going to have God’s power to deal with the problems as they arise. You are going to feel fear, anger, depression, insecurity; but you are going to have God’s power to deal with Read the rest of this entry
Crisis Analysis
Prov. 3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster . . . for the Lord is your security.”
Your finances cannot be your security. Your age cannot be your security. Your good looks cannot be your security. Your oratory skills cannot be your security. Your mechanical skills or engineering skills cannot be your security. The Lord is your security. There are a few facts about crisis that we need to understand.
The first thing you need to understand about crisis is that it is inevitable. The Word of God in James 1:2 says, “When you face trials…” The Bible did not say if you face trials. Isaiah says “when you pass through the waters it will not overflow you, when you pass through fire it will not kindle upon you”. He did not say if you pass through the water or if you pass through the fire. You are going to pass through the waters, and through the fire; it is inevitable. Life is a chain of problems to be solved. In fact, leadership is leading from crisis to crisis. You need to understand that crisis is inevitable.
The second thing you need to understand about crisis is that there are different types of crisis. Some are situational crisis – things that happen on the outside that affects you on the inside. Some crises are relational – things that people you are in relationship with do to you and it is out of your control. Some crises are emotional – things that happen way deep down and you are in turmoil, overwhelmed by feelings of depression, of fear, and of guilt. Job is a classic example of an emotional crisis. Even secret storms, you do not know what it is but you are just going through that period of inner turmoil. It could even be the feeling of loneliness. You can be in the middle of a crowd and be going through an emotional storm.
The third thing you need to know about storms is that storms are impartial. Storms happen to the old and to the young, to the rich and to the poor, to the righteous and to the unrighteous; happens to those that are praying and to those that are not praying, happens to those that are fasting and to those that are not fasting. Crisis happens to both good and bad people. Matt.5:45 “…For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”
Prayer: Father, I will not fear sudden disaster because the Lord is my security, in Jesus Name. Amen!
God Is
Prov. 3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster . . . for the Lord is your security.”
I pray that if there is still any form of fear in our lives, it will find its way out, in Jesus Name. Something that sometimes tries to cripple us is the fact that we are afraid of crisis that we have not anticipated. Today, God will set us totally free of such fears, in Jesus Name. The fear of accidents, the fear of disasters; people do not want to travel to certain parts of the world because they are afraid of earthquakes. There are all sorts of unexpected incidents these days that can cause us to be afraid.
The Answer!
Matt. 9:29 “According to your faith it will be done to you.”
The sixth R in banishing the fear of failure is to Replace Fear With Faith in Christ. You and I must replace our fears with faith in Christ. Why? “According to your faith it will be done to you.” You can program yourself for faith in God or the fear of failure. It is your choice. Instead of being driven by the fear of failing, you should be driven by the faith to succeed. Instead of being faith-driven success seekers, a lot of people are fear-driven failure avoiders.
Your Best
Gal.6:4 “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else” [with emphasis]
1 Cor. 13:8 “Love never fails.” You can either live in love or live in fear, it is your choice. I pray that you will choose love. If you live in love, you fear God. If you do not fear God, then you will fear many things. Fear God or be subject to the fear of everything else. Your choice!
In order to banish the fear of failure, so far we have learnt the five R’s. Remember that everybody fails. Realize that failure is not fatal. Read the rest of this entry
