FEAR NOT

1 King 19:15 "Then the LORD said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria."



When the enemies were fast approaching, Adolf Hitler knew his end was nearing; hidden in a bunker and fear of being captured alive by the enemies, he did not want to take a chance. On Monday, 30 April 1945 he consumed cyanide as well as shot himself with a gun, to make sure of his death. Such was his fear, who was a tyrant and a nightmare for many!

The suicide of Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke, on course to play for his country in the 2010 World Cup, cast a shadow over the world of football and left fans in a state of shock. Police said Enke threw himself in front of a train at a level crossing. His doctor Valentin Markser revealed the player had an acute fear of failure. "I tried to give him hope again, to show him that football was not everything, that we had each other," his tearful widow Teresa told the press.

Recently I received an email from a young engineer who said that she felt hopeless in life and feared that she might get cancer and die soon. When I called her up for counseling, she narrated her failure in the office and the low rating she received in her appraisal. Dejected and humiliated, she lost confidence in herself. I think this fear has caught up with many today and I have to preach the word today. Fear drives you crazy and dizzy while faith makes you gutsy and plucky!

Well, from the scripture above we read that the great prophet like Elijah feared a woman called Jezebel and hid inside a cave. Now watch this, when he heard the threatening words of Jezebel, the Bible says "he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" (1 King 19:3,4) Look, he ran a great distance covering Israel, Judah, the wilderness and finally arrives to crawl inside the cave. Elijah went on a journey not initiated by God. Many of us suffer today because we have made drastic blunders out of fear. Because time is running out, people marry the first person who come their way only to suffer life long.

God looked at Elijah and said, 'Go, return on your way.' God wanted Elijah to return back to his original destination, though a long and tedious journey. Fear has motivated many of us to take wrong decisions in our life, unless we repent and come back to God, we cannot get further instructions for our life. Fear makes us make negative statements. Elijah said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts." Observe the words, 'I have been'; which meant I am not jealous any more and I am through.

Friend, do not allow fear to paralyze you, Jesus looks at you today and says, 'Fear not, for I am with you!'