“And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” (Nehemiah 4:14 NKJV)
The devil will employ any agent, strategy, or means to frustrate, dissuade or discourage you from pursuing and fulfilling God’s vision and purpose for your life.
The devil often uses fear to paralyze believers from taking the first step of faith toward pursuing and fulfilling the great and glorious destiny God has ordained for them.
Fear is the master key the devil uses to open your life’s door to steal your peace, conceal your potential, and abort your dreams.
Whatever you fear will eventually become your master, controlling, dominating, and ruling your life – your words, emotions, and actions. Fear always attracts evil. It is what you dread in life that will eventually happen to you!
Job aptly testifies to this truth.
Job 3:25-26 – KJV
25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. {the thing…: Heb. I feared a fear, and it came upon me}
26 I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.
All through the Scripture, God’s people are commanded not to fear. A believer walking in fear can never please God. It is impossible to please God without faith (Heb. 11:6).
Fear is simply passing a vote of no confidence in God and His promises. Any of your prayers or actions borne out of fear is a sin in God’s sight (Rom. 14:23).
The Lord Jesus expressly warns, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt. 10:28 NKJV).
Unfortunately, many believers today run from one church to another, from one prayer meeting to another, and from one prophet to another for fear of their adversaries.
Consequently, they fall prey to false prophets specializing in manipulating, exploiting, and defrauding gullible and undiscerning souls through frightening negative prophecies and visions.
In the first part of this piece, we began to examine how Nehemiah and the Jews in Jerusalem confronted, defied, and overcame the massive arrows and missiles of fear their adversaries fired at them to deter them from completing the rebuilding of the broken wall of Jerusalem.
First, Nehemiah recognized fear as a sin.
When the false prophet hired by Sanballat and Tobiah counseled Nehemiah to flee to the temple to hide, he declined to “act that way and sin.” (Neh. 6:13).
You cannot overcome fear by defending or excusing your fear; instead, you must treat fear as a great sin and disobedience to God and genuinely repent, confess and forsake it.
Second, Nehemiah overcame fear because he was not dull in spirit.
Nehemiah could discern that God did not send all those prophets who pronounced frightening prophecies to him. He rightly perceived that the motive of those prophets was to manipulate and control him through fear, for they were hired by his adversaries (Neh. 6:12).
Without a sound knowledge of God’s Word and spiritual discernment, you will be manipulated, controlled, and defrauded by many agents of the devil today who are parading themselves as God’s prophets and prowling our streets today for prey.
Third, Nehemiah and his workforce confounded their enemies with spiritual alertness and preparedness.
While Nehemiah and his men were rebuilding the broken wall of Jerusalem, they were fully armed with weapons of war, watching and praying. When their adversaries heard about their alertness and preparedness, they gave up attacking them (Neh. 4:9-15).
Fourth, Nehemiah overcame fear and fulfilled his purpose in life through the fear of God.
Nehemiah was unmoved by the threat of his adversaries because he feared God (Neh. 5:15). The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Prov. 8:13).
Nehemiah conducted himself in fear of the Lord. He refused to walk in the path of unrighteousness, so no threat from his adversaries could erode his confidence and boldness in God.
Righteousness emboldens a man, but sin weakens and paralyzes a man with fear. A sinner is a lawful captive of fear; he is under a spell of fear and has no right to true peace and confidence.
Solomon states, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” (Prov. 28:1 NKJV).
You cannot be living in sin and still retain your confidence. Sin constantly erodes confidence. Sin will always put you to flight before your adversaries. Today, many believers running from one prophet to another are not being chased by any demons but by their sins that they refuse to repent of, renounce, and deal with.
Fifth, Nehemiah overcame fear through his knowledge of God and his true identity in God.
When some people brought Nehemiah the frightening news of the evil plans of his adversaries to him ten times, he said to the Jews with him, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” (Neh. 4:14 NKJV).
Even when a prophet told him to flee for his life, Nehemiah retorted, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there such as I who would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in!” (Neh. 6:11 NKJV).
Nehemiah was bold because he knew that his God was far greater than all his adversaries and that his God would protect him and his workforce, for “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” (Dan. 11:32 NKJV).
Instead of being afraid of their adversaries and threats, Nehemiah and his workforce offered incessant prayers to God (Neh. 4:9).
Beloved, if your life is dominated and controlled by fear of death, fear of failure, fear of witches, fear of men, angels, or demons, it is a clear indication that you do not know Christ and who you are in Christ.
Your revelation knowledge of Christ and your spiritual identity, exalted position, and great authority in Christ will embolden and strengthen you.
Your spiritual strength and boldness are a function of your depth of revelation and knowledge of Christ and who you are in Christ.
It is as you spend more time in deep and personal communion with God in prayer and God’s Word that you will grow in the knowledge of God, increase in spiritual discernment, in spiritual understanding of your true identity in Christ, and in the exercise of your spiritual authority boldly in Christ over the spirit of fear.
Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ has set you free from the spirit of fear, so don’t remain in the bondage of fear. Like Nehemiah, don’t give in to fear!
Therefore, arise today, taking hold of the shield of faith to quench every fiery dart of fear fired at you by the enemy to stifle your creativity, conceal your potential, arrest your progress, abort your dreams, and discourage you from stepping out in faith to pursue and fulfill God’s purpose for your life.
The spirit of fear is not from God. So, reject it. Refuse to let the spirit of fear dominate and control your life!
Paul testifies, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV).
The spirit of fear is the spirit of bondage. Don’t accommodate or tolerate it in your life!
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15 NKJV).
Prayer: My Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for showing me how to confront and overcome fear today. I refuse to be deterred, distracted, and discouraged by the spirit of fear from pursuing and fulfilling my God-ordained destiny in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.