FEAR, ANOTHER ENEMY OF THE SOUL

Proverbs 10:24a says, "What the wicked dreads will overtake him." It is true that the Bible mentions that what the wicked dreads will overtake him, but in reality I've seen that what the righteous dread will overtake him as well. Job 3:25 tells us, "What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me." In Job 1:6-8 the Bible records, "One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, 'Where have you come from?' Satan answered the Lord, 'From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.' Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.'" These above verses reveal that Job was a righteous man, although what he feared came upon him, and what he dreaded happened to him (Job 3:25). Fear is not a respecter of persons. Whoever allows it to take root in their life will be overtaken by it. Fear has the opposite effect of faith, and is equal in its power. When activated, it will attract destruction. It will bring evil toward the one (wicked or just) who is being overtaken by it. Let me give you an example: One day I was in my office when a woman came to me asking for prayer. She told me that she had cancer in her throat. She also told me that she used to sing in the choir at her church every Sunday. Because of the disease she had stopped singing and had begun her treatment at a nearby hospital. She asked me to pray for her, and I did. The first time I prayed for her I remember she began to cry. I asked her why she was crying, and she said, "I'm crying because I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to sing anymore." I told her, "Don't even think about that. You are going to be able to sing again," and soon afterward she left. A month later she showed up again asking me to pray for her once more. The same thing happened. I prayed and she cried. Again I asked her, "Why are you crying?" She answered, "I'm crying because I used to sing in my church and now I can't sing anymore." I said to her, "I want you to sing your favorite song," and she sang a song with some difficulty, but she did it. When she was finished she was still hopeless and a little depressed. She returned to her home in this condition. Three months later I was in my office when one of her friends came in and told me that she had died. That news overwhelmed me by the fact that I had prayed for her and I was expecting her healing. Later on, after seeking God regarding her death, I was convinced that what she had feared—death—overtook her. Nevertheless, I believe she is with Jesus right now, and it is far better to be with Him anyway. Never allow the fear of anything overtake you. Defeat fear by developing desire in your heart. If fear shows up telling you that you are going to die young, just fill your heart immediately with the desire to live a long life, and start quoting Scriptures that talk about long life. Psalm 91:16 is one of them: "With long life will I (God) satisfy him and show him my salvation." Proverbs 10:24—"What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted."