Your Daily Devotional for February 24, 2006

February 24, 2006

 

Victory over Fear

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

“Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen”

 

Luke 24:1-6

 

It is amazing to see on the pages of Scripture that the first emotions at the empty tomb were not those of elation or excitement, but those of fear, uncertainty and perplexity. I find in talking with people around the country, that fear is an overwhelming emotion in our every day lives. It seems as though there is always something coming up—an exam to take, a job interview or maybe even test results from the hospital.                 

 

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University were doing a study about the fear phenomenon and discovered that thirty years ago, the greatest fears of children were things like animals, being in a dark room, high places, strangers, and loud noises. When they asked children in 2004 what made them fearful, they said they were fearful of divorce, nuclear war, cancer, pollution, and being mugged on their way home from school.                         

 

Obviously the fears of children thirty years ago have changed and compounded with the passing of time. Fear is something that touches all our lives.

 

Jesus had foretold not only His death, but also His resurrection. He had prepared His disciples for what was ahead so they would not be gripped with fear. But, sometimes when we forget what Jesus has said, we lose perspective and we can be caught up in fear to the point that we forget the very promises of God. For example, in John 2:19 Jesus said, “… Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Jesus had declared the truth of His resurrection to His disciples but somehow they had forgotten.           

 

When we are not living with God’s promises in our hearts, the challenges of this life can overwhelm us and the victory that the empty tomb brings can be evasive in our lives.

 

There is one disciple in particular that I want to point out who was extremely fearful preceding the resurrection of Christ. His name was Peter. If anyone ever crashed and burned it was Peter. His words to our Lord the night Jesus was betrayed were, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.” But a few hours later he cursed the very name he vowed to protect.

 

But the story of Peter does not end that night. Somewhere along the line Peter won victory over fear when he stood up on the day of Pentecost and preached the sermon that was heard around the world.

 

Sometimes things come into our lives and we think, “That came in out of left field. I was not expecting this at all.” Imagine Peter. But God used him in a mighty way.

 

God desires to use you today and it begins by claiming victory over fear. There is no fear too great that God cannot subdue. 1 John 4:4, “...greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. ”

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