Most people don’t like confrontation. If you do, you are in the minority. Many are petrified of it and tell themselves that it’s just too hard. So, when faced with a difficult situation or person, they avoid it and instead run away…for as long as possible.
People run from all kinds of things—like something new, or change in general. They run from their past.And many people in our society run away from responsibility. But the problem with running away from something is that you stay stuck. You don’t make any progress.
Now personally, I never had too many problems confronting people. In fact, I used to be overly confrontational, so the issue was more about how I handled confrontation. I had to learn how to confront people and situations the way Jesus did. I also had to learn how to confront the devil. And still, every once in awhile God, will give me a little refresher course on confronting the devil so he can’t walk all over me and I won’t listen to his lies.
It’s Time to Stop Running
“ [God] wants us to be bold, courageous, and to know we can handle anything that comes our way! ”
We need to be people who will no longer run away from difficult situations because God doesn’t want us to be afraid. He wants us to be bold, courageous, and to know we can handle anything that comes our way!
Look at 1 John 4:4 (AMP). It says, “Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.”
The next time you feel fearful about a situation or person that you know you need to confront, just quote this scripture and remind the devil of his place. And tell him, “No! I’m not putting up with fear any longer.”
Find Your Source of Strength
Maybe you just need to live with a little more oomph! I’m talking about Holy Spirit oomph that says, “I am God’s child, and I’m not going to be stepped on my whole life. I am the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. I will not live in fear. I will not run away from things. Because I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ who strengthens me.”
You can confront your problem. Or you can choose to run away from it. But if you run, the Bible is pretty clear as to what happens to people who run away from what God has called them to do...
They end up in the wilderness.
Wilderness Residents in the Bible
I want to talk about two people in the Bible who ran away when they were afraid and how God helped them confront their fear.
Moses – God had a destiny for Moses. But at forty years old, Moses did something wrong and instead of facing Pharaoh, he fled and “dwelt in the land of Midian” (Exodus 2:15 NKJV), which was a desert wilderness area outside of Egypt. He spent the next forty years in a holding pattern. God had to work some things out of Moses before he was ready, at age eighty, to go back and lead the Israelites.
Hagar – In Genesis we read how this servant girl got caught up in a really bad situation with Abraham and his wife, Sarah. When Hagar became pregnant by Abraham, which was Sarah’s idea, this created a big fight between her and Sarah. So Hagar ended up running away. The Bible says she ended up in the wilderness by a spring.
Then an angel of God told her, “Go back to your mistress and [humbly] submit to her control” (Genesis 16:9 AMP). Ouch! Although it was definitely unpleasant and, I’m sure, extremely hard to do, Hagar faced her difficult situation because she knew God wanted her to do it.
What about you? Are you in a wilderness today because you are fearfully avoiding confrontation? You don’t have to stay there all your life and keep running away from things. You can get out of that wilderness and live in the promised land God has for you—if you will start confronting issues.
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