We live in a very fearful
time in history and we live in a society that's full of fear
People are fearing about losing their job their home their health their family their friends their position. You name it
Right now we are facing a problem
but God will often use the problem to make you seek his power
and remind you of the promise that he is gonna get you to the other side
Did you hear what I said
God will often use a problem like what we are facing right now to get you to seek his power
To remind you of his promise that you will get to the other side
To remind you of the promise that you will live and not die to remind you of the promise that no weapon
that is formed against you will be able to prosper
To remind you of the promise that if God is for you then who can be
against you this problem needs to lead us to the power that can remind us of the promise that we have in Jesus Christ
Remember the promises of God James chapter 1 verse 12
Blessed is the person who perseveres
under trial because when he has stood the test
He will receive the crown of life
That God has promised to those who love him. This trials not gonna last there's an end to it
You'll come out at the other end of the tunnel ask God for wisdom
To help you from your situation and then ask God for the faith to endure
And say God, I'm not gonna give up this too shall pass
It's not coming to stay it's coming to pass
I don't know where you are right now, but don't you forget your history with God
He has never forsaken you he will never forsake you whatever he brought you through before
Let that be the building block of your faith for the moment that we are in right now. You are gonna get to the other side
We're nation full of fear
and we fear many things we should not have to be fearing and if you watch the news you
Can stir up enough fear very easily
Lots of things around us to cause fear
And in spite of all that God's people not to live in fear
And so the question is how does a believer
Live in a fearful generation at a fearful time in life
and at the same time
Be the kind of person God wants us to be so look at this tenth verse of the 41st chapter of Isaiah
Do not fear
For I am with you
Do not anxiously look about you for I am your God
I will strengthen you I will help you
Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand
What did Jesus say over and over again fear not fear fear not
And he says that he's not given us the spirit of fear
But of power and of love and of a sound mind
If a person is living in fear, think about this you think about all that
you know about God and then you're living with this fear, which is not of God
And here's God has a will for your life and you're afraid to step out and there are many other people
who have challenges in life who've been told they can't do this or can't do that and they just do
what's seeming is miraculous when somebody tells you you can't do something the issue is God what do you want me to do?
He's the one who decides how he's equipped you and how he's built you to do and most of us can probably do
Far more than we do if we would just trust him instead of thinking. Well, here's what we do
We look at somebody else and say well I can't do that. God isn't expect you to do that
Whatever he called you to do
He's calling you to do it to the degree called you to do it to fit his will purpose and plan for your life
So he doesn't expect us to try to measure up to someone else
It's when other people put their measurements on our life that we have a lack of confidence and become fearful at times
And the truth is you and I will never be able to become the person God wants us to be or
achieve the things God wants us to achieve as long as we're afraid
As long as fear dominates our life
Then were not going to do it
Now the question is how do we deal with it?
How do we deal with fears now listen carefully
What I'm gonna say will seem real simple
Watch this carefully as long as I focus on
What that fear is
It's not going to get any smaller
The longer I focus on it what happens
The bigger part of my life it consumes the more it influences my decisions or my makeup, whatever it might be
So I've got to change my focus
If I'm gonna get over it and freed of it, I've got to change my focus
I've got to get it off that and I got to get it on God and then here's what I must do
I must turn my focus
immediately to the most powerful
weapon
Listen to the most powerful weapon that I can have in time of fear. And what is that?
It's the Word of God
My focus is on my faith because whatever I focus on is gonna grow
Whatever I focus on is gonna have greater power in my life
This is a time to bring your focus on your faith
Your faith comes by hearing and hearing
The Word of God what I doing in this season
Shift your focus
From fear to faith some you need to cut off the news
Yes, some of you are so informed you're in fear cut the news off and open up the word of God and begin to
speak it over your soul shift your focus. He says number one. Do not fear
Why
I am with you who is I am?
That's Jehovah God the sovereign creator of the universe
The Bible says he's established his throne in the heavens and their sovereignty rules over everything
So he says do not fear that is listen. It's one thing for somebody to tell you don't be afraid of that
It's something else for God to say do not fear
Why listen do not fear I am with you Jehovah God's with me. Look at this
Do not anxious and look about you
That's one of the most important phrases in the whole Bible when it comes to overcoming anything. Do not anxious look about you
You know why he said that
Because he wants to get our focus on God
As long as I focus on what I'm afraid of it gets larger and larger and more more important and listen and more detrimental
Do not anxious and look about you
For I am your God
Not just your friend I'm your God
I'm the sovereign creator of the universe and I'm your God. I'm your personal God
Then he says
He says I will strengthen you how much strength does he have he's omnipotent
He says I will strengthen you
Surely I will help you why did he put that surely there for to say listen
you can rest assure to this because I'm Who I am
And because I love you because I am your God I am going to help you
He says surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand. It doesn't make any difference what you face in life
Listen, you're in my hands
I sovereign God of this universe. You're in my hands. I will hold you up. I will lift you I will strengthen you. I'm your God
You don't have anything that can outmaneuver
Almighty God
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand
So whatever you facing you believe that the God of this universe
Has given you a personal promise. I will uphold you strengthen you be with you
I am I am your God
Do you believe he's trustworthy enough
To take that fear of yours, whatever it might be and say Lord
I know this doesn't belong in my life any longer
And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna take you to your word and now from this point on
I'm gonna set my focus on you
And I lay this fear down
I'm laying it down on the basis of who you are
What you said
So here's the question
Do you believe that God is who he says he is
Then you need not carry that fear any longer because watch this, you know what this all boils down to
It is a faith battle
Problems are
purposeful they have a purpose realize they come to produce and one of the first things they produce is
greater faith they test your faith problems test my faith
Now your faith is like a muscle a muscle can't be strengthened unless it's
tested unless it's stretched unless it's put under pressure. You don't develop
strong muscles by doing nothing you develop strong muscles by stretching them and
strengthening them and testing them and and pushing them to the limit
Do you have a reason to hold on to this fear
When God has said you don't have to I will uphold you with my righteous right hand
Which means whatever you're facing in life
Sovereign God of this universe is gonna hold you safely and bring you through it no matter what
Wouldn't you agree, it's better to live your life for God
Than to live it in fear
uncertainty doubt and so I want to encourage you to trust him as your Savior