Don't Fret! Don't Fear! Don't Faint!

Psalm 37: 1; Genesis 26:24; Deuteronomy 20:2

We must all be concerned about having the right positive attitude.
We know that the Bible teaches the necessity of such positive attitudes as faith, hope, love,
forgiveness, patience, and self-control.
But just as surely as we should have right positive attitudes, the Bible teaches that we are
to avoid certain negative attitudes.
These negative attitudes will hinder us from having the right, positives attitudes.
So, the Bible forbids us from having these negative attitudes.

The Bible says: "Fret not ... fear not ... faint not," when you face the problems of life.

The Bible Warns Against Fretting

"Fret not ..." (Psalm 37:1)
"Fret not thyself "- The Hebrew word here means properly to burn, to be kindled, to be inflamed,
and is often applied to anger, as if under its influence we become "heated:"
Fret is kin to the word, "friction".
Friction causes destructive heat; it wears away and irritates and annoys.
The heat of such friction does not generate power, instead, it wears one down.
That is the verb side of the definition.

The noun side is that fretting is a poisonous mixture of worry, anger and envy.
Fretting is self-talk.
It is telling ourselves how bad things are, how hopeless they are, and how unfair they are.

There are many causes of fretting.
Two common stimulants to fretting are perspective and pride.
We fret because we have the wrong perspective on our experiences.
We fret because of how we perceive things -- that is, how we see them as being good or bad for us.
Too often, we view an incident from the wrong perspective.

We fret over things that for the moment seemed good, but are denied us, or look bad
or things that are imposed upon us.
Don't fret!
Wait on God to sharpen your vision and clear the shadows.

Pride also causes us to fret.
We feel we do not get enough appreciation or that we do not get enough recognition
or enough compensation.
We fret because our name is not honored.
We are not too concerned about God's name being honored, but when it comes
to our name -- that's different.
We fret if our name is not on the right lists and spoken with proper respect.

Fretting over things that happen to us has a destructive effect.
It becomes habitual -- an unconscious response to life.
It mars our personality like rust.
Then, little by little, it mars the beauty of our person and erodes the strength of our spirit.

Fretting has a progressive effect.
Psalm 37 warns against fretting over the evil person.
Soon, we will fret over the successful person.
Then, we are so poisoned by fretting that we become like the evil ones we fret about.
"Fret not thyself in any way to do evil." (verse 8)

The Bible Also Warns Against Fearing.

"Fear not ..."
"Fear not, I am with thee." (Genesis 26: 24)
The very first human emotion mentioned in the Bible is that of fear.
When God found Adam and Eve hiding in the garden, and asked, "Why?"
Adam answered, "We were afraid."

Ever since then, God has been trying to get His people not to be afraid.
The plea for us not to fear is found throughout the Bible.
Isaiah 41:10: "Fear not, for I am with thee ..."
One hundred an ninety-six times in the Bible God remind us that we are not to fear.

We do not need to define fear.
All of us have cowered before an adversary.
All of us have cried out in the flames of conflict.
All of us have experienced the pain of a threat.
All of us have experienced the cold, clammy sweat of fear.
We know about fear.
We know what it is to fear.

There are a multitude of reasons for which we fear.
We fear that we will lose things that we have, and we fear that we will be denied things
that we want.
Fear comes in many forms.

One common source of fear is that of comparison.
Paul speaks concerning comparison by telling us that we are not to compare ourselves
with others. (2 Corinthians 10:12)
But instead of obeying that Scripture, we turn comparison into an excruciating, painful experience.

It is true that fear can also intensify activity, rather than paralyze.
But fear often paralyzes a good response to the problem, and instead, perverts us
to a destructive action.
It takes a lot of control when we are gripped with fear, to function creatively and reasonably.

The Bible Also Encourages Us Not To Faint.

"Fainting not ..."
Deuteronomy 20: 2 says, "And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle,
that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people and shall say unto them,
... ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies; let not your heart faint
... for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight against your enemies
to give you victory."

In the Christian life, fainting is first an attitude before it becomes an act.
It is the mind and the spirit that faints first.

My grandfather used this expression when he was physically exhausted.
He would say, "I'm just plain gived-out."
There are those who calls it, "burn-out."
This should point us also to our emotional and spiritual exhaustion.
I have heard preachers many times say, "I'd rather burn out for God than rust out."
But God says that we are not to do either.
We are to carefully manage our physical strength.

Fainting also means giving in.
Sometimes, spiritual fainting permits compromising convictions and standards
that we know we should keep.
Compromise is not always a bad word.
It is often wise to compromise.
But we faint when we compromise where we should not.
Occasionally, we become weary of standing up to God's standards, and just faint and give in.

Fainting means giving up -- it means quitting.
We know there comes a time and place in life when we need to change.
Sometimes that is when we know that then we should quit pursuing a certain goal.
That's not fainting; that takes wisdom and strength.
The kind of quitting that I am talking about is the giving up that comes from despair.

There are two causes of fainting that have plagued us over the years.
They are inactivity and emptiness.

By inactivity, I do not mean idleness.
This inactivity comes from circumstances that hinder us from doing those things that seem
significant, meaningful, and exciting.
This inactivity confines living in a monotonous routine instead of propelling us ahead
into new experiences.

Fainting in the Christian life is also caused by emptiness -- the emptiness of the spirit.
There are many ways that strength seeps from our souls and leaves us barren.
One that can trouble us is the absence of a challenge.

With this emptiness, we hear no clarion call to a new task.
We see no unique opportunity in our community.
We receive no encouragement in our service.
We think or say things like:
"We've tried it with 'these' people; they're not going to change."
"There is no challenge where we live."

Have you ever heard that kind of talk about where you live and serve God?
Often, our greatest challenge is to have no obvious challenge.
"In the Nazareths of life,
in the commonplace,
amid the tedious tasks of life,
we'll find a challenge hidden,
awaiting God's servant who will not faint."

Inactivity and emptiness make it easy to faint when we face our problems.
But God encourages us: "Faint not!"

Don't fret! Don't fear! Don't faint when you face your problems.
Despite all of our difficulties, the victory will be ours through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psalm 37:4-5: "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

Sermon adapted by Dr. Harold L. White