Fear Is A LieSample

“FEAR IS A LIE”

I recently joined a boxing club and one of the first things the instructor said was, ‘Keep your feet moving and don’t flinch when the jabs come your way.’ Although the most natural thing to do would be to flinch, the instructor was clear that standing firm would be advantageous. As I watched a few sparring matches, I noticed the boxer kept throwing jabs even though he was not making contact.

I asked why and found out the boxer does this to make his opponent flinch and step back, so he can come in with a hook, or a cross, and take him out. This is similar to how we can get taken out in life. The enemy uses fear as a jab that never actually makes contact. He gets us to flinch in fear, retreat, and run away.

The key for the boxer is to face their opponent and not flinch. The key for us is to face our enemy, our fear, because like the fake jabs, fear can’t touch us or hurt us; fear is fake; fear is a lie. I wonder if you have ever thought of fear in this way, of fear being a lie.

Fear is spelled F.E.A.R (False Evidence Appearing Real).

As we have discussed earlier on, fear makes us assume the worst. It is false evidence that appears in our minds as being real. If we want to conquer our fears, we can start by facing them rather than running from them. Knowing that they will never make contact and cause harm can give us confidence to stand firm and take our fears head-on.

In today’s passage, the Israelites are questioning the goodness of God and are fearful of the future. They are allowing fear to dictate their present reality, and the result is them wishing to turn around and go back to where they came from. I wonder if you’ve ever been in a situation like that, when you are wondering whether God will come through.

But Moses encourages the people to be fearless, telling them that all they need to do to see God’s deliverance is to stand firm. For you today, God’s message is the same: Don’t flinch, don’t let fear dictate your reality, stand firm, and you will see God move.