Fear Less - Part 4 [Notes]

The phrase, “Don’t be afraid!” appears in the Bible more than any other Biblical command—and for good reason! People of all generations have struggled to trust God when facing difficult or scary situations.

Join us for “Fear Less” and learn from the Biblical stories that can help us face our fears with faith.

Today's Takeaway // We will worry less about the future if we remember how God has taken care of us in the past.

Fear: A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.
– Dictionary.com

[Fear and anxiety] are very closely linked to one another and in some cases can be felt at the same time, but the main difference is whether or not the fear is related to something immediate or not. Fear is a response to something immediate, whereas anxiety is a response to something imagined, or something that might happen in the future.
– Theydiffer.com

Can any of you add a single cubit to his heights by worrying?
– Matthew 6:27 (HCSB)

We will worry less about the future if we remember how God has taken care of us in the past.

I will remember the Lord’s works; yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders. I will reflect on all You have done and meditate on Your actions.
– Psalm 77:11-12 (HCSB)

We will worry less about the future if we remember how God has taken care of us in the past.

So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying,“May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!”Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said,“I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.”
– 1 Kings 19:2-4 (HCSB)

Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab,“As the Lord God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”
– 1 Kings 17:1 (HCSB)

Then a revelation from the Lord came to him:“Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there .”So he did what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived by the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan. The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in themorning and in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. After awhile, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
–1 Kings 17:2-7 (HCSB)

So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said,“Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.” As she went to get it, he called to her and said,“Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”
– 1 Kings 17:10-12 (HCSB)

Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘The flour jar will not become empty and the oil jug will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the surface of the land.” So she proceeded to do according to the word of Elijah. Then the woman, Elijah, and her household ate for many days. The flour jar did not become empty, and the oil jug did not run dry, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through Elijah.
– 1 Kings 17:13-16 (HCSB)

Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
– Matthew 6:26 (HCSB)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
– Matthew 6:33-34 (HCSB)

Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “My Lord God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times. He cried out to the Lord and said,“My Lord God, please let this boy’s life return to him!” So the Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said,“Look, your son is alive.”
– 1 Kings 17:20-23

We will worry less about the future if we remember how God has taken care of us in the past.

After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land. ”So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria.
– 1 Kings 18:1-2 (HCSB)

Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.”But the people didn’t answer him a word.
– 1 Kings 18:19-21 (HCSB)

Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire.Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire, He is God.”All the people answered,“That sounds good.”
– 1 Kings 18:23-24 (HCSB)

So, they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
– 1 Kings 18:26 (HCSB)

At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
–1 Kings 18:27-29 (HCSB)

“Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.” Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!”
– 1 Kings 18:36b (HCSB)

It is remarkable that her threat terrified Elijah as it did. Ironically by contrast he had told the widow in Zarephath not to be afraid. He had just demonstrated that the gods to whom she (Jezebel) now appealed in her curse had no power at all.
– Constable

"Unbelief puts our circumstance between us and God, but faith puts God between us and our circumstances."
– F.B. Meyer

We will worry less about the future if we remember how God has taken care of us in the past.

House of the Lord // How Great is Your Love // O Praise the Name (Anástasis) // I Won't Forget

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