Have you ever been promoted by the Holy Spirit to say something to someone? I have several times. I’ve also allowed fear to keep me from saying it. I kept questioning if it was really God. I was worried about what they would think about me as a total stranger walking up and saying something personal. I’ve also made excuses as to why I couldn’t. When those moment passed, and I knew I had let fear win, I felt bad. I don’t want to feel that way again. Now when I feel those promptings, I do everything I can to push passed that fear and obey God’s voice. It’s never easy, but I’d rather obey God than to allow fear to hold me back.
In Jeremiah 38, the city of Jerusalem was besieged. The word the Lord gave Jeremiah was for the people to surrender and live or stay and die. There were people who didn’t like that message so they got the king to allow them to put him in a cistern. So then God asked an Ethiopian to speak up for Jeremiah to the king. Even though he was afraid, he asked for Jeremiah’s freedom and won it. In the next chapter, God had a message for him. Verses 16-17 say, “Say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I have threatened. I will send disaster, not prosperity. You will see its destruction, but I will rescue you from those you fear so much. Because you trusted me, I will give you your life as a reward’” (NLT). God rewarded his faithfulness for obeying despite his fear.
Deuteronomy 13:4 says, “Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.” I’m sure we can all think of times that we have allowed fear to hold us back. I don’t like living with those moments of regret. It takes faith and courage to obey God at times. As this verse tells us, we should fear God rather than men. We should listen tomHis voice and obey it. Who really knows what’s on the other side of your obedience? You may end up saving a life, changing the course of a family for generations or simply help someone know they are loved and seen by God. Don’t let fear hold you back. Speak up anyway and God will reward your obedience.
Photo by Redd Francisco on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 