Judges 8:4-6, 8 – Fear
4 And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.
5 And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they be faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.
6 And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army?
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8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them likewise: and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered him.
Gideon is on the move, chasing down the army of the Midianites. Gideon’s men are tired now, so they decide to ask for help. First, they ask the city of Succoth and then the city of Penuel. Both turned him down because they were afraid that Gideon would not successfully capture the Midianite kings that were left and that, after the Midianites regroup and defeat Gideon, they would come back to punish whoever helped Gideon chance them down! The problem is that Gideon was fighting on God’s side, yet the people of Succoth and Penuel were still afraid of what the enemies of God would do to them!
For us today, this narrative has an important New Testament principle, do not fear. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” If we are living to serve God, there is nothing that we need to be afraid. A big one, in our culture, is that we start to fear what other people would think if we go to church, invite them to church, or choose to not do the same things as the people around us (like partying, drinking, lying, gossiping, you get the picture.)
The people of Succoth and Punuel were afraid. Today, we have nothing to be afraid of. If we are living for Him, our fears is not something that is from God, but something meant to distract us. Don’t fear like the people in Succoth and Punuel did, but get on God’s side and don’t be afraid to do something for Him.
Life Step: Think about it…
What kind of things do you tend to be afraid of?
What do you do when you are afraid?
What could help to ease our fears?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
1. Im scared of what people say and think about me.
2. When I get scared I thing of God and how he is right beside me know matter what.
3. Just being yourself and not careing what other people think cause only one oppion in this world will count and that is God’s oppion. And he loves each and every one of us no matter what! 🙂
Great comment Kendra! 🙂
I get afraid of a lot of things. lol. But I agree with Kendra! I do get afraid of what others might think of me, and I especially get afraid if I think others are judging me. Actually that is one thing that I’m really working on (ever since we did the series Fake I.D in youth group.) and believe me, giving that over to God is the best feeling ever! I still care sometimes, but I’m not worried about it all the time, like I used to be, and I’m soo glad 🙂
One good thing to do when I’m afraid is to pray. Of course I don’t always do this, but I’m trying to get in the habit of doing it! Because God can really take our fears away, crazy right?! But that feeling is so amazing, that you don’t have to worry about anything cause Gods got it covered!
I am afraid to jump out of an airplane or bungy jump! lol. Fortunately God hasn’t asked me to do either. All kidding aside, sometimes I am afraid to witness too boldly because of the reaction I might get. I got to get over that. It’s not about me. I am afraid of hearing bad news from Doctor’s. That’s never fun. When I am afraid I turn to scripture and read some of my favorite verses and let it be a reminder to me who is in control and is caring for me. I am grateful for God’s Word any time, but especially in times of worry and concern. I will also pray to God to lift the power of fear from me and give me peace. If I don’t focus on the above I would have a tendancy to over think things and worry unnecessarily.