Vicki shares her thought from the week; breaking through the barrier of fear.

In my job recently we’ve been doing a bit of work on barriers for learning, or barriers to learning and we found that a lot of them really came down to fear. Fear of “what if I can’t do it?”, “what will my friends say if I appear bothered?”, “what if it’s too late to turn over a new leaf?”.

We can apply these kind of barriers to our lives as well. What if we are fearful of not being able to do what we think God is asking us to do? What if we are fearful of what our friends will say? They can really pose a barrier to our Christian life and our relationship with God. And there are other challenges that might come our way as well – some challenges legitimately make us fearful.

So I started to investigate what the Bible says about fear and I realised that there were two types of verses. The first group that I found, really seemed to simply state that we shouldn’t be afraid. And a lot of the time they are paired with a reminder of the sovereignty of God. Here are two of the many that I found. One is from John 14

so peace I leave with you my peace I give to you not as the world gives do I give to you let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid.

John 14:27

which is for I the Lord your God hold your right hand it is I who say to you fear not I am the one who helps you

Isaiah 41:13

And then there is the second group that I found and they seem to require or tell us that there’s something required from us.

I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who looked at him are radiant and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

Psalm 34:4-5

“When I am afraid I put my trust in you, in God whose word I praise in God I trust

Psalm 56:3

It really reminds us that in order for us to experience that lack of fear or that freedom from fear, we have to seek God. It’s not that we are delivered from the situation, it’s not that every time God is going to magically take that thing that’s fearful away but we are going to be delivered from the fear that perhaps it induces in us. Psalm 56 says, “I put my trust in you.” Yes, we might get to the point where we’re seeking God, but do we seek Him and then straight away after we’ve had that little moment, go and make our plan B’s, so that we actually don’t hear what He says to us.

I wonder if perhaps at this point you might be experiencing that fear. Maybe you feel like you’re in a bit of a tailspin and you can’t see or feel anything apart from the fear. And so I want you to take this week to do the following, to stop, to breathe, to seek God, to actually listen and then listen some more. And hopefully, you will be delivered from that fear. Maybe not the situation, but you will be delivered from that fear.

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not. I am the one who helps you.

Isaiah 41:13

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.