Chapter One
Do It Afraid!
Obeying God in the Face of
Fear
Has fear ever stopped you? Have you ever run away from something, disobeyed God or started something and then backed down because of fear?
If you have, you haven't been able to experience all the confidence available to you in God and the blessings He so desires to give to you. But you aren't alone.
Even though I'm a very bold person now, there was a time when I wasn't walking in the confidence and blessing God had for me. Over the years God has helped me understand how the bondages of fear took hold in my life, and He has showed me how to get out. In this book I explain what He taught me. I believe if you will open up your heart to receive as you read, you too will begin to walk free of the bondages of fear.
The Only Right Kind of Fear
There is only one right kind of fear described in the Bible-the reverential fear and awe of God. Fearing God doesn't mean being afraid of Him or believing He is going to hurt you. Being afraid of God or what He might do is a perversion of the kind of fear God meant for you to have.
The fear of God the Bible talks about is the kind of fear we would have for anyone in authority. It is the kind of fear children should have for their parents, wives for their husbands, and students for their teachers. It is a type of godly respect that involves reverential fear and awe.
Of course, if you really look, you can see that Satan is doing a pretty good job of tearing down that whole structure. In our society there isn't a lot of respect for authority anymore. Instead, there is a lot of rebellion.
Proverbs 14:26 is an interesting Scripture: In the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord there is strong confidence. Why? If you have a reverent and worshipful fear, you will obey. You will do what God says to do, and your confidence and trust in Him will continue to grow.
Having a reverential fear and awe of God has a positive effect on our relationships with other people. W. E. Vine says it "will inspire a constant carefulness in dealing with others in His fear." Have you ever mistreated anybody? I know I used to be pretty hard to get along with. Sometimes I took my bad moods out on my kids or my husband, Dave.
I've noticed, however, the more reverential fear and awe I have of God and the more I realize Who God is, the more careful I am in my dealings with other people. I know I'm accountable to Him for my actions, and those other people are just as valuable to Him as I am.
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Excerpted from Do It Afraid by Joyce Meyer Copyright © 1996 by Joyce Meyer
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