Fear Factor

Today’s Verse:

And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. ~1 Kings 19:3

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Fear is when we are afraid of someone or something that we think will cause serious harm to us. Fear will quickly take over every aspect of our lives. Fear is the opposite of faith. Everyone has a fear that can overcome them. I believe that fear is one of the devil’s biggest lies that he uses to sideline us from the victorious Christian life. Elijah went from a mountaintop experience to the lowest point of his life. In James 5:16, we read that Elijah was subject to like passions as us. If it happened to Elijah, it could happen to us. What can fear do to us, and how can we win over it?

We see the delusion.

“And when he saw that….” Jezebel sent a message to Elijah that she would take revenge against him for her embarrassing defeat on Mt. Carmel and the killing of her 450 paid prophets. Her threat was, “I will kill you by noon tomorrow.” Elijah “saw that.” He was instantly overcome with fear of being hunted down and killed. He was aware of the torture techniques of the Sidonians, and became fearful that he was soon to be one of Jezebel’s victims. Fear makes us delusional. We imagine and see things out of normal proportion. We see the worst-case scenario for our lives. We assume that we are defeated and there is no way out except to run. The delusion in fear moves from trusting in God to a survival mentality.

We see the descent.

“He arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah.” Beersheba was in the lower, southern portion of Israel. He traveled near to the wilderness borders. When fear overcomes us, we want to run and hide. We want to get as far away as we can. When we try to run from our fears, we are always headed in a downward direction. Elijah was running for his life, from his calling, and from all responsibilities as a prophet of God. Fear always takes us on a downward path. We believe that by running away we can escape our problem.

We see the despair.

“…And left his servant there.” When we are overcome with fear, we do and say things that are hurtful to ourselves and others. Elijah abandoned his servant at Beersheba. Fear will cause us to tell the people who love us, “Leave me alone.” Elijah sat down under a juniper tree. Fear lowers us to where we try to hide under the shade of a tree when, instead, we should be abiding in the shadow of the Almighty. Elijah had to be compelled to eat and drink. Fear can be so overcoming that we have no desire to eat or care for ourselves. Elijah prayed for God to take away his life. The extreme of fear can make us suicidal and not see any purpose to life. Elijah traveled further away and hid in a cave. Fear leads us to cut ourselves off from everything in life. The devil uses fear to make us fall in despair.

We see the deliverance.

“And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” First, get out of the cave that you are hiding in. There is no victory over fear as long as you are hiding in a cave. Second, stop to listen for the still, small voice of God. Why the still, small voice of God? Because when our anxiety and fear have overcome us, we are only listening to ourselves and the devil’s lies. The still, small voice of God makes us to be still and that know He is God. The still, small voice calms our fears, restores us with good sense, and places us back on praying ground so that we can be restored.

“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Be vigilant against fear and the devil’s lie. You never go wrong in trusting the Lord.

Have a faith-filled God Morning!

Bible Reading Schedule: 2 Samuel 19-21

#1Kings #Faith #Fear