From Fear And Failure To Faith And Accomplishment
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We’ve all experienced victories of some sort in our lives as well as experienced fear and failure.
Yet all these experiences accomplish nothing if they don’t bring about some type of change in our lives.
The victories are not really victories if they don’t bring about a positive change as a result.
likewise, fear and failure doesn’t teach us anything if we don’t learn something from it.
In exodus we see an example of this.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
We see that God was trying to instill in them that they had no need to fear...
That they had a God that doesn’t just stand by and observe..but brings victory and deliverance to his people.
That they can cast all their problems on God....
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
God has given us the means to stop worrying, to stop thinking we can do everything ourselves, and to bring our burdens to him..for he careth for us.
Sometimes we must learn to smile in the face of adversity instead of cracking under the pressure.
Casting our cares upon God doesn’t mean that we will never have to deal with anything again or never face adversity again, but with every trial and test we go through in life, God will not leave us nor forsake us
The victory has already been won....we just have to stand firm on his promises
and to trust that all things will work for the good if we Love God first and be willing to fulfill his calling in our lives.
God has given us victory already, but all to often, we don’t recognize the victory for what it is.
We forget about the victories in our lives and we concentrate on the daily struggles and battles until there is nothing else we can see.
Many times our countries history we see decisive victories....
We can see them if we remember the American Revolutionary War.
what brought the end to that war?
The answer is the Battle of Yorktown. That was the decisive victory in 1781 that ended the war. Though the war was not officially over until the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783.
There were other skirmishes after Yorktown. There were still some uncertainty, negotiation, and a legal state of war for two more years. But everybody already knew the outcome, because the decisive battle was the Battle of Yorktown.
In World War II, the Allies finally defeated the Nazis in 1945. There was one last, big assault by the Germans in 1944, called the Battle of the Bulge.
They threw all their resources, all their men, and all their materiel into this battle, and they pushed back the Allied line, forming a large bulge. It looked as if they just might break the Allied line, and then uncertainty would prevail. But the Allies withstood the attack and won the Battle of the Bulge.
They won the decisive victory.
Decisive means: unmistakable, unquestionable
The problem is that when we have decisive victories…we think that the war is over
Even though victory is already attained, there are still small battles that we must continue to fight....to continue to maintain our ground.
They won the decisive victory.
They still had months of additional fighting before they conquered all of Germany, before they completely subdued the country and brought peace.
But the outcome was no longer in doubt. After the Battle of the Bulge, it was just a matter of time. They knew, “We’ve got to keep on keeping on, but victory is ours; victory is certain.” It was the decisive victory.
God’s promise of victory
God’s promise of victory
After Israel crossed the Red Sea and entered the wilderness, they still faced many struggles and temptations.
There were times they wanted to go back to Egypt. At times they said, “It would be better to go back into Egypt than to die in this wilderness with no food and water.” But every time they got to this kind of crisis, God would supply the need.
God gave manna from heaven, water out of the rock, and so on.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
while this scripture is talking about salvation....God does not desire that any perish or fall by the wayside at any time during our walk through this life.
He said he would never leave us or forsake us…he would always be there.
If we remember in Exodus 14.13, Moses said they would see the Egyptians no more from that point on
Before the children of Israel traveled across the Red Sea, the outcome was in doubt, because the Red Sea was an impassable barrier in front of them, and the Egyptian army was behind them in pursuit.
It looked at that point impossible, It looked as if they would be destroyed.
Many times life looks like that.
It seems impossible.
There seems to be no way out.
Gods in saying to us....
remember your past victories
remember my promises
Have trust and faith and will deliver you in due time.
After God brought the Israelites across the Red Sea and after the Egyptian army was defeated, they still had trials, struggles, and temptations.
They could have turned around and gone back, but there was no longer an enemy following them. They were no longer under the threat of annihilation. They knew in their hearts, “If we’ll keep on keeping on, we are assured of victory.”
“The Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever”
In other words, you will never have to face this particular battle again.
You will never be at this level of uncertainty again.
You will have a new outlook on life.
Yes, you will have temptations.... Yes, you will have struggles..... Yes, you will have to fight.... Yes, you will have to pray.... Yes, you will have to be faithful.
But we can look back on this experience and say, “My life is forever changed. I’ve been set free.
My outlook has changed.... My spirit is changed.
The burden is lifted. God heard me; God answered me; God gave me a decisive victory.”
“Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not.”
The first thing we have got to do is move from fear to faith.
we’ve got to stop talking fear, and we’ve got to start talking faith.
we’ve got to stop looking at obstacles, and we’ve got to start looking at opportunities.
We’ve got to stop looking at why it can’t be and start looking at why God wants it to be. We’ve got to move from fear to faith.
He then said; “Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.”
The second thing that you’ve got to do is trust in the salvation of the Lord. Start believing that all things are possible.
We must Look to God and say, “He has the answer. He has the victory. He has my salvation.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.
I’m going to depend upon Him. I’m not trusting in any of the other things that I’ve used as crutches in my life.
I’m not trusting in excuses.
I’m not trusting in wishes.
I’m not trusting in what might be, could be, should have been, or would have been,
but I’m trusting in the salvation of the Lord.” This is how you experience a decisive victory.
We begin to start turning from fear to faith…from failure to accomplishment
We must remember the victories in our lives when we have doubt or struggles.
It has been said by many people.....
“Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,”
“Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
Lessons from the past may not always ward off doom, but they can provide insights into the present and even the future.
Sometimes we worry and we struggle and we fret, until we finally come to our limit and say,
“There’s no way out.
There’s no way this can happen.
There’s no way I can be delivered.
” But when we go to God in prayer, he says trust in me...
God makes a way where there is no way.
God always brings an answer from an unexpected source,
something we can’t predict,
something we can’t plan.
When we trust in God and let the Lord fight our battles, we will see a decisive victory.
In verse 16, God told Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand over the sea, “and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” He said in verse 15, “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.”
The fourth and final step is:
we must go forward.
we’ve got to act on God’s promise.
We sometimes have change our thinking,
change your belief,
and change our attitude,
but when all is said and done, we must simply step out by faith.
There comes a time when we’ve got to take action—
not according to our past, not according to our feelings, not according to our human thinking, but according to the Word of God. we’ve got to put our faith in action.
When Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth,” Lazarus came forth, but before that happened, Jesus said, “Roll away the stone.” John 11:38-44
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
The bible says that “they then rolled away the stone”
The same God who called forth Lazarus from the dead could have ordered the stone to move, but that’s not the way God acts.
God wants us to put our faith in action.
He is saying to us... “Do you believe?” “Yes, Lord, I believe.” “Then roll away the stone.”
We must remove what it is that is keeping us from complete victory and success....
Whether it be current or future doubt
past failures
lack of confidence in our own abilities
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We tell ourselves...“But there’s a risk.” That’s exactly right.
Acting in faith is trusting God.
We must go forward If we want to see the victory,
we’ve got to claim it.
we’ve got to act upon it.
If we trust in God It will be a decisive victory, but we must continually move forward in faith.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: My God; in him will I trust.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, And under his wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold And see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, Even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
With long life will I satisfy him, And shew him my salvation.
Conclusion
We can look back to the time when we received the Holy Ghost,
but we can also look back to other times in our lives in which we received the direction we needed.
We can recall victories both small and great.
God wants us to look at our life and remember:
God wants us to walk with him and remember.. “God has given me decisive victory.
God did something in my life, and I am forever changed.
God has changed my family.
He has changed my life for the better.
He has changed my destiny.
He has changed my future.”
God wants to give us a decisive victory.
We must move from fear to faith.
We must trust in the salvation of the Lord and let the Lord fight our battles, and then go forward, acting on God’s promise.
We must remember whatever we are facing in your our life—
sin, things of the past that still bother you, fears, frustrations, doubts, a difficult situation at home.
These are like “the Egyptians whom we see today.”
We can substitute for “Egyptians” whatever we are challenged with or intimidated by today,
Whatever controls us,
whatever haunts us,
Whatever bothers us,
Whatever troubles us,
Whatever brings fear or discouragement,
whatever is looming in our life that we can’t seem to get past, over, or beyond.
We must remember God’s promise to us today if we’ll accept it: “The Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see them again no more forever.” And that is a promise of a decisive victory!