Miriam • Learn to Apply Faith to Any Fear
AI was not used to generate this post.
What do you do with your fears? Do you stuff them down? Do you dwell on them? Would you like a biblical tool that you can use to apply faith to any fear? This post has one for you. In the last blog, you learned that God is bigger than your weaknesses. This is blog #4 in the “Fear to Faith” series. In this post, we will learn from the life of Miriam that you can apply faith to any fear. And I will give you a simple process to use to do that very thing.
Listen to this blog in a similar podcast from the Everyday Women, Ever-Faithful God Bible Study.
God Is Bigger Than Your Fears
Fear is a normal human emotion designed by God to alert us to danger so that we will take action against it.
Fear was an ever-present part of Miriam’s life from an early age. Pharaoh was determined to destroy her people so he had commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill the boy babies and only let the girl babies live. When that did not work, he decreed that all Hebrew boy babies should be thrown in the Nile at birth.
Miriam’s mother Jochebed knew that threat so she hid her baby boy for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she devised a plan to save his life and give him a future. Miriam knew her mother made a floating basket, put the tiny baby in it, and set it in the Nile River. Miriam was given the task of watching the basket float down river until someone hopefully picked it up from the river. Pharaoh’s daughter ended up with the basket and the baby. Miriam bravely spoke with her and offered to find a nurse for the baby. Jochebed was rewarded for her faith by receiving her son back for several years and being paid to care for him. She had applied faith to her fear and received God’s blessing on her and her family. Jochebed and Miriam learned that God is bigger than any fear they had.
God Is Stronger Than Your Enemies
Eighty years later, that baby boy grew up into the man Moses. God called Moses to deliver His people from their Egyptian slavery. In the process, the Hebrew women were commissioned by God to ask their neighbors for gold, silver, jewelry, and clothing to take on their journey. Miriam experienced that. Miriam also experienced that amazing exit from Egypt along with about two million other people. But they soon approached the Red Sea and felt trapped. The people looked up and saw the Egyptian army approaching fast after them. The Israelites were terrified! So, they cried out to the Lord in panic and hysteria. Moses told the people to not be afraid, to stand firm, to be still, and watch the Lord fight for them.
God went to work. As a pillar of cloud and fire, God put Himself between the people and the Egyptian army, keeping His people safe. God caused a wind to blow all night, dividing the water into two walls and drying up the sea floor between them. The next day, the Israelites took their walk from fear to faith as they tramped to the other shore. When all His people were safe, God caused the water to flow back on the Egyptian army. The Lord fought for them. They needed only to stop being terrified and to trust Him. Moses led the trembling people to apply faith to their fear. They confronted it and turned it over to God—at least for that moment! Their faithful God took over and proved that He was stronger than their enemies.
Then, they headed to Mt Sinai where they heard the voice of God speaking to them. Read Exodus 19: Be Light-Bearers to the World to find out what happened there. God gave them not only the Law through Moses but also their purpose as a nation of people belonging to Him. Miriam and her fellow Israelites applied faith to their fear and received God’s blessing.
Applying Faith to Your Fear
What do you do with your fears? Here is a biblical tool that you can use to apply faith to any fear.
Whenever you are afraid, follow this 6-step process to apply faith to your fear.
Step 1: Confront it: What fears do you have right now?
Think of the things that make you afraid. The real fears and the imaginary ones. Which ones are the most likely to tempt you to panic or to be terrified? Focus on those.
Step 2. Ask about each one: What is my worst-case scenario?
Start with one of those fears, perhaps the most terrifying one, and ask yourself, “What is likely the worst that could happen?” Think realistically not hypothetically.
Step 3. Consider this: If the worst I can imagine happens, could I handle it through the presence and power of Jesus Christ?
As a Christian, you have the power of the One who created the Universe living inside of you. Ask yourself, “Can He help me get through anything?” The answer is a definite, “YES!”
Hebrews 4 tells us that our high priest Jesus knows and understands what we are going through so we can go to Him for mercy and help in our time of need.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
That help usually comes from God’s power working on our behalf.
[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us… (Ephesians 3:20)
His power is working in us. Paul says in Ephesians chapter 1 that it is working for us, too. So, say to yourself, “If the worst I can imagine happens, I can handle it through the presence and power of Jesus Christ working on my behalf.”
Step 4. Remember the four truths essential to faith:
- God loves you.
- He knows what is going on in your life.
- He can do something about it.
- You can trust His goodness in whatever He chooses to do!
Repeat them to yourself over and over again. Believe them. Count on them.
Now that you have narrowed down the fear, determined you can handle it through Jesus’ power and presence, and remembered those four truths essential to faith. What is next?
Step 5. Pray: hand it all to God
Prayer is simply talking to God about anything and everything. This is where you trust the Lord, handing it over to Him, whatever it is.
Thank the Lord for His grace and love for you. Thank Him for His presence and His goodness and anything else that comes to mind.
Ask Him for the courage and the peace to ride out the storm. Where the Bible is clear, you can claim God’s promises by faith—like the promise of peace that Jesus gave to His followers.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Anytime, you can ask for peace, deliverance, and protection. But you cannot hold God to promises He has not made. He has not promised immunity from natural calamities, from illness, or from troubles.
Step 6. Live life securely in Him: What actions can you take?
Remember that fear is an emotion designed by God to alert us to danger so that we will take action against it. So, while trusting God and praying for courage and peace, take common sense precautions. Be wise in the world.
They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat. (Nehemiah 4:8-9)
Trust God to show you what to do and give you strength to do it when you are weak.
You can download this process as a bookmark.
Your Response
Dear friends, God may not choose to rescue you from everything that is threatening you. But, in any and all situations, you can choose to apply faith to your fear!
Now take one of your most pressing fears and work through the above steps to apply faith to that fear.
In the next post, we will learn from the life of Rahab that God is good all the time. You can trust His choice in addressing your pain or challenge.
Let Jesus satisfy your heart with His faithfulness, so you will choose to trust Him with every fear.
All of the above information is covered in the Everyday Women, Ever-Faithful God Bible Study or the shorter The Walk from Fear to Faith Bible Study.
Related Resources:
- Satisfied Series 1 podcasts (Old Testament women)
- Exodus 3: God’s Commission to Women
- Exodus 19: Be Light-Bearers to the World
AI was not used to generate this post.