How Do I Overcome My Fear of the Future?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:04.000 | How do I overcome my fear of the future?
00:00:08.000 | It's an ancient question for God's people who have always been
00:00:12.000 | tempted to worry about the unknowns. God knows
00:00:16.000 | that we struggle here, and overcoming this fear is a matter of getting a
00:00:20.000 | right view of God and of his providence over every detail of our
00:00:24.000 | lives. Pastor John explained why in a 1993 sermon on
00:00:28.000 | Isaiah 41 verses 1-13, and I want to
00:00:32.000 | read that full text before we hear from Pastor John. The Lord speaks
00:00:36.000 | in chapter 41 saying this, "Listen to me in
00:00:40.000 | silence, O coastlands. Let the peoples renew their strength.
00:00:44.000 | Let them approach, then let them speak. Let us together draw near
00:00:48.000 | for judgment. Who stirred up one from the east, whom victory
00:00:52.000 | meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he
00:00:56.000 | tramples kings underfoot. He makes them like dust with his sword, like driven
00:01:00.000 | stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely
00:01:04.000 | by paths his feet have not trod. Who has performed
00:01:08.000 | and done this, calling the generations from the beginning?
00:01:12.000 | I the Lord, the first and with the last I am
00:01:16.000 | he. The coastlands have seen and are afraid. The ends
00:01:20.000 | of the earth tremble. They have drawn near and come. Everyone helps his neighbor
00:01:24.000 | and says to his brother, 'Be strong.' The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
00:01:28.000 | and he who smooths with the hammer, him who strikes the anvil,
00:01:32.000 | saying of the soldering, 'It is good,' and they strengthen it with
00:01:36.000 | nails, so that it cannot be moved. But you, O Israel,
00:01:40.000 | my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of
00:01:44.000 | Abraham my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the
00:01:48.000 | earth and called from its farthest corners, saying to you,
00:01:52.000 | 'You are my servant. I have chosen
00:01:56.000 | you and not cast you off. Fear not, for I am with
00:02:00.000 | you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen
00:02:04.000 | you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my right
00:02:08.000 | hand.' Behold, all who are incensed
00:02:12.000 | against you shall be put to shame and confounded. Those who
00:02:16.000 | strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall
00:02:20.000 | seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them.
00:02:24.000 | Those who war against you shall be as nothing
00:02:28.000 | at all. For I, the Lord your God, hold your right
00:02:32.000 | hand. It is I who say to you, 'Fear not.
00:02:36.000 | I am the one who helps you.'"
00:02:40.000 | Here's Pastor John expounding on this text in 1993.
00:02:44.000 | Now I say that those four glimpses
00:02:48.000 | intensify the five pillars of fearlessness in
00:02:52.000 | Isaiah 41.10. Let me try to put it all together for you.
00:02:56.000 | The God who judges all the earth and calls the coastlands to give an
00:03:00.000 | account, the God who rules over the rulers of the nations,
00:03:04.000 | the God who calls the nations into being, the God who calls
00:03:08.000 | his people from the nations and elects them for himself, that
00:03:12.000 | God says to you this morning, "I am your God. I am with
00:03:16.000 | you. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will hold you
00:03:20.000 | up with my victorious right hand."
00:03:24.000 | And only now does he say, "Therefore,
00:03:28.000 | therefore, because I judge the nations,
00:03:32.000 | therefore, because I rule the rulers, therefore, because I
00:03:36.000 | call nations into being, therefore, because I choose my own
00:03:40.000 | freely, therefore, because I am your God, therefore, because
00:03:44.000 | I am with you, therefore, because I help you, therefore, because I strengthen
00:03:48.000 | you, therefore, because I uphold you, therefore, for the rest of
00:03:52.000 | your life, do not be afraid."
00:03:56.000 | It isn't hanging in the air
00:04:00.000 | as a burden. It's a doorway
00:04:04.000 | into a life of freedom on
00:04:08.000 | massive pillars of divine enablement.
00:04:12.000 | Let me change the image.
00:04:16.000 | If I may, God, please, get it home to you.
00:04:20.000 | Try five prepositions
00:04:24.000 | or five spatial relationships that
00:04:28.000 | God has to you. "I am your God."
00:04:32.000 | That is, "I am above you. I am over you
00:04:36.000 | with my mighty hand." Over. "I am with you."
00:04:40.000 | Beside. "I will
00:04:44.000 | help you from whatever angle the enemy may come or the attack
00:04:48.000 | or the threat. I am all around you as your help.
00:04:52.000 | I will strengthen you from inside out. I will be your
00:04:56.000 | strength, and I will uphold you from underneath
00:05:00.000 | you. I am over you. I am beside
00:05:04.000 | you. I am all around you. I am inside
00:05:08.000 | of you. I am under you. You don't need a fear.
00:05:12.000 | You don't need to be afraid.
00:05:16.000 | Choose your image. Do not be afraid.
00:05:20.000 | There is one great
00:05:24.000 | ground for fearlessness.
00:05:28.000 | God, I am your God.
00:05:32.000 | I will be with you.
00:05:36.000 | I will strengthen you.
00:05:40.000 | I will help you. I will
00:05:44.000 | uphold you. I only have one message.
00:05:48.000 | If you have God, you don't need to be afraid.
00:05:52.000 | And I call you this morning
00:05:56.000 | to believe that the most
00:06:00.000 | crucial factor in the
00:06:04.000 | future of your fearlessness is not your
00:06:08.000 | family of origin. It is
00:06:12.000 | your God. I
00:06:16.000 | call you to be free from the
00:06:20.000 | limitations that so many put upon yourself
00:06:24.000 | in a kind of fatalistic rootedness in
00:06:28.000 | where you've come from. You have a God
00:06:32.000 | who is infinitely more powerful
00:06:36.000 | than anything in your past.
00:06:40.000 | And He can break whatever
00:06:44.000 | bondages you feel to be in because of it.
00:06:48.000 | The Bible holds up a God who is
00:06:52.000 | stronger than your personality. Who is
00:06:56.000 | stronger than your past track record of timidity.
00:07:00.000 | Who is stronger than your perceived
00:07:04.000 | identity as a nobody who could ever accomplish
00:07:08.000 | anything with courage for God. And I plead with
00:07:12.000 | you to accept the fact that it is God who makes the
00:07:16.000 | difference and not you or your parents or your friends.
00:07:20.000 | It is God who makes the difference. I just appeal
00:07:24.000 | to the one among you right now who feels absolutely
00:07:28.000 | and totally inadequate to do anything of worth this week.
00:07:32.000 | I appeal to you to stop thinking about
00:07:36.000 | your inadequacy and why you got to be that way.
00:07:40.000 | And I plead with you to look at God.
00:07:44.000 | He is God. He is God.
00:07:48.000 | Do you believe Him? Jesus said, "Let not
00:07:52.000 | your hearts be troubled. Believe
00:07:56.000 | in God." Amen.
00:08:00.000 | That was from Pastor John's sermon on Isaiah 41 verses 1-13 titled
00:08:04.000 | "Fear Not, I Am With You, I Am Your God."
00:08:08.000 | Preached on June 20th, 1993.
00:08:12.000 | The full message is available right now free of charge at DesiringGod.org
00:08:16.000 | This is a clip I like, one I found while listening to Pastor John's
00:08:20.000 | sermons and if you have a favorite sermon clip of Pastor John's, send it to me. Give me the title
00:08:24.000 | of the sermon and the timestamps from the audio of when the clip
00:08:28.000 | begins and ends. Tell me why it's impacted you. And then give me
00:08:32.000 | your name, the closest city to you, and email me all of that information at
00:08:36.000 | askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. That's our email address.
00:08:40.000 | Askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. And put the word "clip" in the subject
00:08:44.000 | line, please, if you would. I would appreciate it.
00:08:48.000 | Well, why is the Bible so violent?
00:08:52.000 | It is violent. Very violent. So violent that one listener wants to know
00:08:56.000 | why. Why must it be so violent?
00:09:00.000 | It's an important question with an answer that every Christian needs to know and understand and be equipped
00:09:04.000 | with. Don't miss it. That's on Friday. I'm your host Tony Rehnke and we will
00:09:08.000 | see you then. Thanks for listening.
00:09:12.000 | [Music]
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