Chapter One
Phase 1 - Hear
Directly from GodGod wants us to be totally free from fear. He doesn't want us to live in
torment, and He doesn't want fear to stop us from confidently doing what He
tells us to do. When we have a deep understanding concerning God's perfect
unconditional love for us, we realize He will always take care of everything
that concerns us - that knowledge eventually delivers us from fear. As we have
experience with God and see that He always takes care of us and provides what we
need, we begin to relax.
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete,
perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For
fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has
not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete
perfection]. 1 JOHN 4:18
God moves on our behalf when we focus on Him instead of on our fears. The
feeling of fear or fearful thoughts is simply our enemy Satan trying to distract
us from God and His will for our lives. We may feel fear at various times in our
lives but we can choose to trust God and if we need to, "do it afraid."
This "do it afraid" theory is something God revealed to me many years ago. I saw
that when He told Joshua as recorded in Joshua 1 to "fear not," He was actually
warning him that fear would try to stop him, but instead of letting the fear
control him, he was encouraged to be strong and full of courage and keep going
forward.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a
sound mind.
1 TIMOTHY 1:7 NKJV
Anytime trouble comes fear is usually the first thing we feel. Satan injects
"what if" thoughts into our head, and we often begin to see the worst possible
outcome. As soon as that happens, we should realize what is going on - Satan is
trying to keep us from going forward in God's will and good plan for our lives.
When we feel fear or begin to experience fearful thoughts, the very first thing
we should do is pray. I always say, "Pray about everything and fear nothing." We
should set ourselves to seek God until we know we have the emotional and mental
victory over the spirit of fear. As we seek God, we are focusing on Him instead
of on our fears. We worship Him for Who He is and express our appreciation to
Him for the good He has done, is doing and will continue to do.
God has blessings and new opportunities in store for us. To receive them we must
take steps of faith. That often means doing things we don't feel like doing or
in our own minds don't even think will work, but our trust and reverence for God
must be greater than what we personally want, think or feel.
We see a perfect example of this in Luke Chapter 5. Peter and some of the other
disciples of Jesus had been fishing all night; they had caught nothing; they
were tired, actually exhausted; they needed sleep; I am sure they were hungry.
They had just finished washing and storing their nets, which was a big job.
Jesus appeared on the bank of the lake and told them if they wanted to catch a
haul of fish, they should cast their nets again, only this time in deeper water.
Peter explained to the Lord that they were exhausted; they had caught nothing,
but he said, "On the ground of Your word we will lower the nets again." This is
the kind of attitude the Lord wants us to have. We may not feel like doing
something; we may not want to; we may not think it is a good idea; we may feel
fearful that none of it will work, but we should be willing to obey God rather
than our fears or feelings.
The devil tries to use fear in its many different forms to keep us in shallow
water. But even though we may feel fear, we need to focus our attention on God,
and at His word we should launch out into the deep to receive the blessings God
has for us.
After this, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and with them the Meunites came
against Jehoshaphat to battle.
1 CHRONICLES 20:1
Are the "-ites" after you? In this passage it was the Moabies, the Ammonites and
the Menuites who were after King Jehosaphat and the people of Judah. In other
places in the Old Testament it was the Jebusites, the Hittites and the
Canaanites who were the troublemakers for God's people.
But with us it is the "fear-ites," the "disease-ites," "poverty-ites," "bad
marriage-ites," "stress-ites," "grouchy neighbor-ites," "insecurity-ites,"
"rejection-ites" and on and on.
How many "-ites" are chasing you around? However many there are, let's look at
what King Jehoshaphat did to turn His attention on God instead of focusing on
all those "-ites" that were trying to rise and rule.
SEEK "A WORD" FROM THE LORD
It was told Jehoshaphat, A great multitude has come against you from beyond
the [Dead] Sea, from Edom; and behold they are in Hazazon-tamar, which is
En-gedi.
Then Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself [determinedly, as his vital need] to
seek the Lord; he proclaimed a fast in all Judah.
2 CHRONICLES 20:2,3
When Jehoshaphat was told that the "-ites" were coming against him, the first
thing he did was fear. But then he did something else: He set himself to seek
the Lord. Determined to hear from Him, he even proclaimed a fast throughout the
land for that very purpose. He knew he needed to hear from God. He needed a
battle plan, and only God could give him one that was sure to succeed.
We should develop the habit of running to God when we have trouble instead of to
people. We should seek God rather than our own minds or other people's minds.
Ask yourself, "When trouble comes, do I run to the phone or the throne?" God
might direct us to a person for advice, but we should always go to Him first to
show that we honor and trust Him.
Phase 1 of God's battle plan is to combat fear by hearing from God. Romans 10:17
teaches us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (NKJV).
This verse is not referring to the written Word of God, but the spoken Word of
God. It is called rhema in the original language of the New Testament, which is
Greek. In other words when we hear from God, faith fills our hearts and drives
the fear away. Jehoshaphat knew he had to hear from God, and we have the same
need.
God may speak by giving us peace deep inside of us; He may give a creative idea;
He may calm our troubled emotions; He may give us assurance. God speaks in
various ways, but if we seek Him we will find Him. He will lead us and guide us
if we acknowledge Him in all our ways. (Proverbs 3:5,6.)
Everyone you know may be telling you to trust God, and you want to, but "how to"
has evaded you. The fears are screaming at you, threatening you. Your friends
are saying, "Everything will be all right," but somehow it doesn't penetrate the
fear until God speaks deep in your heart and says, "You can trust Me; I will
take care of this; everything is going to be all right."
In 1989 I went to the doctor for a regular checkup. He discovered a small lump
in my breast and wanted me to go immediately for a biopsy. I went thinking it
would be nothing, but the outcome was that I had a very fast growing type of
cancer, and surgery was highly recommended immediately.
I can remember walking down the hall in my house, and fear hitting me so
strongly that I felt like I was going to fall down. My knees would actually feel
as if they were going to buckle under me. Every night when I went to bed, I had
a hard time going to sleep. Even when I did sleep, it was not a good, solid,
restful sleep; it was a fitful sleep. Every so often I would wake up, and there
the fears would be pounding at my mind.
"Cancer" is a word that comes with great fear. No matter how many of my family
members or friends told me God would take care of it, I was still battling fear
until one of those nights about three o'clock in the morning when God spoke deep
inside of my heart and said, "Joyce, you can trust Me." After that, I did not
experience the sickening fear again. I was apprehensive as I waited for the
results from my lymph nodes test to see if I would need further treatment, but I
still knew that I was in God's hands and whatever happened, He would take care
of me.
As it turned out, I did not need any further treatment. We actually realized
that through early detection, God had saved my life. I ended up thankful instead
of fearful, and Satan lost another battle.
JEHOSHAPHAT NEEDED TO HEAR FROM GOD
When Jehoshaphat heard that a huge army was amassing to attack Judah, he knew
what to do. He needed to set himself to seek - not the advice of people - his
friends, family or advisors - but to hear from God.
Jehoshaphat had probably been involved in other battles previously - why
couldn't he just use some of the same methods he used before? No matter how many
times something has worked in the past, it may not work to solve the current
crisis unless God anoints it afresh. He may anoint an old method, but He may
also give us fresh direction we have never had before. We must look to God not
to methods. He does use methods, but they have no power unless He is working
through them. We cannot focus on methods anymore than we can on fears. Our
focus, our source of supply must be God and Him alone. Our answer is not in
methods but in relationship with God.
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses and trust in
chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but they look not to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the Lord!
ISAIAH 31:1
I have never discovered exactly what "woe" is, but I know I don't want any of
it. Woe is obviously a sorrowful thing; it is trouble and misery. When we seek
God we have peace and joy, so why would we choose woe resulting from seeking the
world?
JEHOSHAPHAT'S VITAL NEED
Jehoshaphat knew that unless he heard from God, he was not going to make it.
That need was what The Amplified Bible calls his "vital need." There are some
things we can do without, but others are vital. Jehoshaphat knew having God's
direction was vital.
You may be in a similar situation to Jehoshaphat's. You too may need a word from
God. You may feel that, like a drowning man or woman, you are going under for
the third time. You may desperately need a personal word from the Lord if you
are to survive.
God wants to speak to you even more than you want to hear from Him. Seek Him by
giving Him your time, and you will not be disappointed.
Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast in all Judah, and Judah gathered to seek the Lord
for help, yearning for Him with all their desire.
And Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; even out of all the
cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord [yearning for Him with all their
desire].
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of
the Lord before the new court.
And said, O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You
not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are power and
might, so that none is able to withstand You.
2 CHRONICLES 20:4-6
Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast to show his sincerity to God. Missing a few meals
and taking that time to seek God is not a bad idea. Turning the television off
and spending the time you would normally spend watching it with God is not a bad
idea either. Stay home a few evenings and spend extra time with the Lord instead
of going out with your friends and repeating your problem over and over to them.
These things and others show that we know hearing from God is vital. I have
learned the word seek means to pursue, crave, and go after with all your might.
In other words we act like a starving man in search of food to keep us alive.
I would also like to add that we need to seek God all the time not just when we
are in trouble. Once God spoke to me that the reason so many people had problems
all the time was because that was the only time they would seek Him. He showed
me that if He removed the problems, He would not get any time with the people.
He said, "Seek Me as if you were desperate all the time and then you won't find
yourself desperate as often in reality" I think this is good advice, and I
highly recommend that we all follow it.
TALK TO GOD ABOUT HIM
Instead of immediately presenting the problem to the Lord, Jehoshaphat began to
talk to the Lord about how mighty the Lord is. He turned his focus on the Lord
instead of on his fear of the problem.
And said, O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You
not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In Your hand are power and
might, so that none is able to withstand You.
2 CHRONICLES 20:6
Instead of talking to God only about our problems, we need to talk to Him about
Him. We need to talk to Him about Who He is, about the power of His Name and the
power of the blood of His Son Jesus, about the great things we know that He can
perform and has already performed. After we have praised and worshiped Him in
this way, then we can begin to mention the problem. I would not like it if my
children only came to talk to me when they had problems - I want them to
fellowship with me.
I can think of a few people right now who only call me when they have problems,
and it hurts me. I feel that they don't really care about me, but only what they
want me to do for them. I am sure you have experienced this and feel the same
way. These people may call themselves friends, but in reality they are not.
Friends are for times of trouble, but that is not all they are for. As a friend,
we need to show appreciation and spend time encouraging those we are in
relationship with. We must avoid being the type of people who are what I call
"takers." Those who always take but never give.
I want to be the friend of God. He called Abraham His friend, and I want that
also. The Lord is not just my problem solver. He is my everything, and I
appreciate Him more than I know how to say.
"NOW, LORD.
Continues.
