I had a great study last night, and it will be a four week study of the fear of the unknown. It looks at the life of Abraham and how he had the faith to endure the unknown. Leaving family and going to a place unknown to him. The question and answers in our group were interesting. How do you classify fear? Fear could be (F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal. What evidence do we see, which appear real to cause us to fear? I am not sure if it is fear of the unknown. You may disagree with me on the unknown. The unknown could be a word, we are afraid of and surely this is how prejudices start and misconceived ideas because we lack the knowledge of what we do not know. False statements we feed our minds are like wood to a fire. It stokes the fuel and feeds off of the thoughts creating a torrential flood of creativity of the what if’s and could be’s without having training or knowledge.
Fears start by the false lies we tell ourselves. We are fearful of losing a relationship. Lies such as I am not good enough for them. I am not worthy to be loved. Fears of losing a job and having to find another one could be another fear of the unknown. The false lies can set in after several weeks of rejection letters or no responses. What if I am not qualified? The economy is so bad there is no use in looking for a job.
Our thoughts control our actions. Our actions are controlled by our beliefs. What exposure have you had in your life with God? He says, don’t worry about your life (Matthew 6:25), don’t worry about clothes (v.28), what you will eat (v. 31), don’t worry about tomorrow (v. 34) and don’t worry about what to say when falsely accused (Mt. 10:19). I agree to make up your mind beforehand (Luke 21:14). This means we must take our thoughts and captivate them to make them obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
I know what you are thinking. I use to think the same way of this is impossible. It is too hard to do. First of all, reread this first sentence of this paragraph. It is too hard to do. This is a lie, we begin to feed ourselves that it is hard. It is only hard as one wants to make it. Sure when I lost my job, I had the negativity, and it is being human. Then I had to remember who was in control. I prayed and asked for deliverance of those thoughts. I hit the ground running applying to positions to which I felt qualified to do. I prayed before I went to each interview. You have to make baby steps to get to the big steps of just walking the path with HIM.
There are conditions in our walk with Him. The condition is making an effort to try. Peter did when he walked on the water and was he ridiculed for failing to do it? No. He had a helping hand. Jesus asked him why you doubted. Peter didn’t doubt in the power of Christ. Peter doubted himself that he could do it, but became fearful because he took his focus off of the ONE, who made it possible.
The more I walk with Him the more amazed and the less fearful of the unknown. There has to be a repetitious deliverance. Just like walking. The more we learned to walk the more stable we become. It is when we take in the negative thoughts is when we begin to stumble around. It is like drinking alcohol, and you begin to relax your composure, and you don’t know how to act and you stumble and can’t walk very well. I have lived in the unknown and have walked on water. Actually, it was frozen water. The bay in Japan was frozen. I still had to have faith on walking on something solid. To conquer the fear of the unknown is ridding your thoughts and making them captive through obedience of Christ.
It is easier to fear. It is harder to have faith. Exercising the faith builds up the strength and allows God to work through our weaknesses. Are you ready to face the unknown? What are your fears?
