“When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses. When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.”- {Neh 4:14-15}.

A Young College student wanted to speak with me after I spoke at a college retreat. As I spoke I picked her out of the audience and found out her name and said, here is how not to yield to fear when it comes. I shared with her from the passage on front of the rest of the students some things from the passage

  1. FEAR NOT – They have been threatened but he tells them to stop being afraid.But he doesnt just leave them there, for otherwise they could as we could walk around thinking, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.” And what are we thinking of? “Fear!” So what needs to change and how would they? This could do as they have a…
  2. FOCUS CHANGE – Do not be afraid- Remember the LORD. The first thing is he tells them to stop being afraid instead change their focus of their thought life off the human intimidation of fear they were seeking to inject them with, to Him! Remember the LORD. In chapter one He is revealed as “Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness…” and Lo as he prayed he speaks to Lord and says “REMEMBER” what You have said. He focus’s on the character of God and His promises. “…remember the Lord who is great and awesome,”
  3. GET INVOLVED IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS– “…and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.” He has them FOCUS on the welfare of others. Earlier in chapter three, many of them stood side by side in the rebuilding of the wall, each one doing what they could and assigned to them. Paul wrote, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”-{Phil 2:3-5}. Focus not only on your own interests but also the interests of others. The life of Jesus could be summed up in one word, ”OTHERS!”
  4. FAITHFUL LORD- “…When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.” Note The LORD’S Faithfulness to both groups. REMEMBER THE LORD! Recount His faithfulness to yourself. THINK and TALK the truth to yourself TRUST HIM! 

After the event the young lady shared how her mom had died several years earlier and a pastor had noted about a book she had where she kept a record of the LORD’S faithfulness to her. I shared with her, out of all the people I could have called out of the audience, it was her, perhaps the same LORD who had encouraged her mom wanted her to know He would be faithful to her too. When tempted to fear she too could choose to REMEMBER THE LORD!

Don’t Forget to Remember…, Remember The LORD!

{From the message,” How To deal with Fear And What To Remember.”}