sermonette: Fear is the Mindkiller
Jarod Ritenbaugh
Given 12-Apr-25; Sermon #1812s; 14 minutes
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Fear impacts the human nervous system, manifesting three instinctive responses—freeze, flight, and fight—which occur in everyday life and throughout the pages of scripture. These survival instincts are developed as follows: 1.) Freeze-as illustrated in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25) in which inaction because of paralyzing fear leads to condemnation; 2.) Flight can be seen in Elijah's timid escape from the wrath of Jezebel (I Kings 19) where his anxiety and depression leads Almighty God to prematurely retire him from his prophetic role; and (3) Fight as witnessed by Moses' confrontation of fear at the Red Sea, the crucial pivotal event at the Red Sea (Exodus 14) in which God orders him not to wait but to move forward. Unchallenged fear represents a lack of faith, but when one confronts fear head on with a calm, prayerful resolve, it leads to spiritual maturity. When we are surrounded by fear, we must draw encouragement from Hebrews 13:5-6 which reminds us that if God is with us, nothing on the face of earth can interfere with His protection.