1 Samuel 23:3
And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
God’s command to go fight against the Philistines should have been enough for David’s men, but sadly the fear of what might happen caused them to stall and not follow God’s command. When David told his men to gear up for battle, they responded by saying, we be afraid. These men allowed life circumstances to dictate their action instead of allowing God and faith to dictate actions. David’s response was to pray again. These men finally obeyed God’s command and saw victory, but had they listened to fear, it is probable that they would have missed God’s mighty hand working in their lives.
We often sit in judgment of those in the Scriptures when we are guilty of the same things. So many people sit in fear when they should be marching by faith, and if we marched forward by faith, we would see God’s mighty hand work. You cannot sit and say, we be afraid and expect God to work through your life. There are several things that happen when you sit in fear.
First, sitting in fear keeps you from obeying God. Fear is Satan’s number one choice of weapon that keeps God’s people from marching forward by faith. You are never obeying God when you let fear dictate your actions. You can always be assured that when you respond by fear that the opposite action would be an act of faith that God would reward with the miraculous. Don't let fear move you to disobey God. It is better to die by obeying God’s command of faith than to be safe by sitting in fear and doing nothing.
Second, sitting in fear keeps you from God’s blessings. God wanted to bless David and his men with cattle, but they had to overcome fear’s voice by listening to faith to get this blessing. You will never see God’s blessings on your life without acting by faith. Fear has kept many from seeing the miraculous and God’s blessings in their lives. You always have to realize that on the other side of fear are God’s blessings and the miraculous. You must silence fear if you are going to see these blessings and miracles. Let me give you a couple thoughts on how not to sit in fear.
First, never let your present circumstances dictate your present action. Present circumstances are often scary, but you must look forward to faith and let faith dictate your actions. Looking at the present means you are not looking toward God by faith. If you keep an upward look of faith toward God, you will never let the horizontal look of fear stop you from going forward.
Second, prayer is the action that makes faith’s voice louder when fear tends to speak. The only way to silence fear’s voice is prayer. It is in prayer that your faith is challenged. It is in prayer where God’s voice calms the heart of fear to give courage to obey His voice of faith. Let prayer be your immediate action when fear tends to grip your heart.
Third, faith is God’s weapon to silence fear, but fear is Satan’s weapon to silence faith. Faith allows you to see God’s power and the miraculous; whereas, fear keeps you from God’s blessings and will likely cause you to become a critic of faith. The best action to stop fear after prayer is to take a step of faith, and once you take the step of faith, you will find God’s mighty hand of power will be there to take you to His blessings and miracles.