It has been said that in order to overcome fear, you have to face it. Often we don’t even realize that we have fear in certain areas, until we go through a trial that reveals it. God’s purpose in trials is to expose and then deal with our fears and weaknesses, in order that they might be turned into strengths (Heb. 11:34).
Fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. It seems that when we go through a trial, the enemy will taunt us in our mind, in order to create fear, doubt and unbelief, much like Goliath did to the children of Israel for 40 days and nights, prior to David taking him out (I Samuel 17).
Where did David’s faith come from? Prior to being anointed to become the next king, David was a shepherd, who spent a lot of time alone, caring for his father’s sheep and worshiping the Lord with his harp and songs of praise. David must have also studied or been taught the word of God, because he knew what it meant to be in covenant with Him. He did not tremble in fear when he heard the taunts of Goliath, neither was he moved by the size of this 9 foot tall giant. Instead, he recalled the covenant promises of God and his past victories and this is what we have to do.
In I Samuel 17:26, David said: “For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (NKJV) In old testament times, circumcision was a sign of being in covenant with God. What David was saying is that he and the Israelites were in covenant with God and Goliath was not. He knew that the covenant promises of God said that God would be an enemy to their enemies (Exodus 23:22) and that though their enemies may come at them one way, they would flee in seven (Deuteronomy 28:7).
In I Samuel 17:34-37, David describes his past victories, where he saw God deliver him repeatedly, from the lion and the bear and this had built his faith for this moment. In verses 45-47, we can see that David proclaimed in advance what he believed in his heart God would help him do. This is what faith is “perceiving as real fact that which is not revealed to the senses” (Heb.11:1 The Amplified Bible).
Verse 48 reveals that David didn’t walk, he ran to the battle, took Goliath out with a sling shot and cut off his head with his own sword. Praise the Lord! This is how we do it. We have to read and meditate on the word of God and worship, until it gets down into our spirit and produces the faith we need for whatever situation we are going through.
If you walk with God long enough, you will develop a track record with Him, where you go through trials and situations that may seem impossible in the natural, and yet the Lord will show up and deliver you in a way that you know it could only be Him that did it.
I remember years ago, after my husband and I had sold our business, he took a job in sales that was commission based. We received about half of what we needed to live on from monthly payments from the sale of our business, but we had to walk by faith for the other half. We honored God with our money by giving tithes and offerings. Although this is an old testament principle, the new testament says “those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly and those who sow bountifully will also reap bountifully” (II Corinthians 9:6). I have always heard that when you give God 10%, He puts His blessing on the other 90% and we have seen God prove Himself faithful to us over and over again in our finances (Malachi 3:10-12).
On one occasion, we had several bills due and no sales in sight. We had heard a message on praising God on the right side of the red sea. In this message, the preacher had talked about how the children of Israel should have praised God in advance, before they saw the waters part, instead of waiting until they parted and then praising God for the victory.
My husband got out his guitar and we began to sing the song that says “Jehovah Jireh, my provider, his grace is sufficient for me.” While we were singing the song, the phone rang and it was one of my husband’s customers saying “I need a computer system and I need it right now.” My husband jumped in the car, drove to the customer’s shop and came home with a paycheck. What is even more amazing is that this same thing happened two months in a row, exactly the same way. Talk about building your faith! Going into this financial trial, I had a lot of fear, but after the Lord proved Himself to us over and over again, my fears and doubts subsided and I began to make it a practice anytime we had a need to begin thanking and praising God as our provider.
If you are going through a trial right now, be encouraged people of God, you have a covenant with Him and He will prove Himself faithful. This is a time to develop your track record with God. God bless you all.
In Christ –Kelly Rowe
A Deeper Walk 