Trading Fear for Faith
Exo 3 (NRSV) 7 Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. 10 So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
Pastor Mark concluded his two-part series on fear vs faith today. After two days of being fever free due to Covid, my fever returned yesterday and lingers today, so I stayed home and watched the service on TV.
The Pastor used Moses’ fear of following God to point out the necessity of trading our fear for faith. He stated that for most of us we have had to battle the same fear for most of lives.
It occurred to me as he spoke that the reason we have to fight the same fears for a lifetime is that, unknowingly, we continue to nurture our fears instead of facing them and letting go.
Surely not, you might say. Surely I have not given rise to my fears. But look at Moses. God told Moses His plan and told him how he was a part of His plan, and all Moses could do was come up with reasons why God was wrong.
I’ve said for years that I believe the sweetest words to God’s ears are not, I love you, but instead, Here am I. You see, fear seldom prevents us from saying “I love you” to God, but it is probably the number one preventative from saying “Here am I”.
If we could just understand and accept that God’s plans for us existed before the foundation of the world, then we could finally replace fear with faith. (KJV) 2 Tim: 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
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