Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Finances
I don’t personally know of anyone who has not struggled at one time or another with fears over their finances and needed the courage to trust God. God has promised in His word that no child of His will suffer from hunger or starve to death (Prov. 10:3), and those who fear God will lack nothing at all, even if they grow weak from hunger (Psalm 34:10). The fear of finances keeps so many people up at night that I lost track of counting them all. Is this an area where you require courage? I suggest you read some of the Proverbs and the Psalms because God promises to never forsake us by reminding us that His own children will not have to go out and beg for bread (Psalm 37:25). If God provides for the birds of the air that don’t even need a job, then why would He not do the same for us, whom He values infinitely more (Matt. 6:26)?
Witnessing
I have done door-to-door and street evangelism and even one-on-one witnessing, and I still tremble at times. My heart starts to pound, my brow grows sweaty, and my voice sometimes gets shaky, but real courage is not being afraid–it is doing what needs to be done despite the fear. Courage is not the elimination of fear; it is acting regardless of fear. Take comfort in the fact that it’s hard for everyone. Ask God to give you the courage to step out and risk for the sake of the kingdom. Ask others to pray for you about this. Great rewards come with great risks, and I can look back on times in my life where I was afraid to share the Gospel with someone but who later placed their trust in Christ. What if I hadn’t gone through with it? Paul frequently asked the church to pray for Him in witnessing boldly for Christ and specifically asked that he might declare it fearlessly, as he should (Eph. 6:19-20). The fear of man is a big obstacle that can trip us up, but trusting God always helps (Prov. 29:25) because if we trust in God, we have no reason to fear anything that man can do to us (Psalm 56:11).
Goliaths
Many of us have our own giants that we face. These might be a disease or illness, a troubled marriage, a dying spouse, unemployment, or whatever else seems to be impossible to you. David had his Goliath, but we have ours, too, and even though David faced a giant about ten times (or more) his size, David trusted in God. David told Goliath that he was certain that God was going to take him down that day (1 Sam. 17:44) because the Lord was going to give Goliath into David’s hands, for the battle is the Lord’s (1 Sam. 17:47). When Moses was near the end of his life, he told Joshua to have courage and be strong because he had no reason to be in fear or dread the future because the Lord promised to go before them in battle when they crossed over into the Promised Land because God was not going to forsake them (Deut. 31:6).
A Closing Prayer
Oh mighty God of the universe, please forgive me when I fall into fearful circumstances and don’t trust You enough, knowing that You will never leave me or forsake me and that You will take care of my every need. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen
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