How You Can Defeat the Giant of FearSample

What Fear Does to You

You’ve probably seen the words “No Fear” on t-shirts, ball caps, or even bumper stickers.

We like to tell ourselves and others that we’re fearless. It makes us feel strong. But the truth of the matter is everyone feels afraid at times. You do, I do; even the tough guy wearing the “No Fear” t-shirt does.

Fear is just something we experience; it is defined as a strong sense of personal danger – whether real or imagined.

Many people have physical fears – spiders, snakes, sharks, even clowns. But there are deeper fears that are even more challenging. We fear the future. We fear change. We fear failure. We fear the unknown. We fear rejection. We fear criticism.

We fear going to the doctor and getting the report saying, “You have cancer.” We have family fears. We fear that our marriage might crater. Kids fear that their parents are going to get divorced.

We fear we’ll lose our job and financial security. I could go on, but you get the picture. Fear comes in many flavors. And it can become a giant in your life, threatening to disable and destroy you.

But the Bible clearly says that God has not given you a spirit of fear. God doesn’t want you to live a life paralyzed and plagued by fear. The Lord wants us to face and defeat the giant of fear by the power of his Spirit and by the power of his word.

There are three truths about fear that I want you to know.

Fear is a thief.

Fear is a liar.

Fear is defeated by faith.

Over the course of this reading plan, we’ll go into each of these points in depth. Starting with the first truth today: Fear is a thief.

Today’s passage from the book of 2 Samuel is just a short, one-verse story about a guy named Sibbecai who defeated a giant named Saph.

Saph is the third giant that David and his kingdom faced. First, there was Goliath, then Ishbi-benob, a giant who represented discouragement. Now, here is the third giant.

David is not fighting him. One of David’s Mighty Men, Sibbecai, is fighting this giant. This giant’s name is interesting. His name, Saph, means to snatch away or wait at the threshold.

That’s a fitting name for what fear does, isn’t it? Fear waits at the threshold to steal your peace and sense of security. Have you ever noticed how fear does that? When your heart gets fearful, there is no peace. But as you see in today’s other key verse, John 14:27,our Lord gave us peace.

Peace is your birthright – your gift – as a child of God. When you allow your heart to get fearful, you lose your peace. The fear comes in and snatches away your peace. The word for peace in Hebrew is shalom. That word always means well-being. When you get fearful, the fear steals away your peace and well-being.

Not only does fear steal your peace, but it also steals your confidence. When fear comes in, you lose all confidence that you will be able to succeed.

That’s what happened to Peter. Peter was the one that got out of the boat and started walking on water with Jesus. Things were going great until he took his eyes off Jesus and began looking at the wind and the waves. That action produced fear, and he began to sink. He lost all his confidence in the Lord’s word.

That is what fear does. Fear tells you that you can’t. And when you allow fear to steal your confidence, you stay in the boat.

Fear steals your peace, steals your confidence, and steals the potential of all that you can do and all that you can be for God.

But you don’t have to allow it to do that. Just as Peter did when he succumbed to fear, you can cry out to Jesus, “Save me,” and He will reach out his loving hand to hold you.

Questions:

1. What is your greatest fear at this moment? Pray and ask God to give you his peace and not let your fear steal it from you.

2. What does Peter’s story about walking on the water teach you about where your confidence should be? Ask the Lord to help you keep your eyes on him even when fears threaten to pull you under.