Bible Talk with Sister Deb: Faith Over Fear: Finding Courage in Troubled Times

What do you do when fear threatens to overwhelm your life? In this soul-stirring episode of Bible Talk, Sister Deb Osborne tackles the age-old struggle between faith and fear through the powerful lens of Mark 5:21-43.

Drawing from Jesus's curious question "Why make ye this ado?" when He encountered mourners at Jairus's house, Sister Deb reveals how this simple phrase carries profound implications for believers today. She unpacks the critical difference between denial and faith – showing that true faith isn't ignoring problems but facing them with God as our focus.

"Faith is seeing light with your heart when your eyes only see darkness," Sister Deb reminds us, offering practical wisdom for those moments when fear threatens to paralyze us. Through vulnerable personal stories and biblical examples like the Israelites who missed their promised land due to fear, she illustrates how fear robs us of God's richest blessings.

The message introduces a powerful spiritual tool called "The I Don't Know Prayer" – a simple approach to bringing our uncertainties before God when we feel overwhelmed. This honest prayer acknowledges our limitations while affirming God's omniscience, helping us transfer our burdens to the One who can handle them.

Perhaps most comforting is Sister Deb's reminder that we already know the end of our story: God wins. When we understand this truth, we can navigate the "middle stuff" – our daily anxieties and fears – with confidence that our ultimate victory is secure.

Whether you're battling chronic anxiety, facing uncertainty, or simply seeking to deepen your faith, this episode offers timely encouragement to choose faith over fear. Listen now and discover how to face your challenges with renewed courage, knowing God is bigger than anything standing in front of you.

Want to connect with Sister Deb? Reach out at osbornedevrak@gmail.com or support the show through PayPal/H-O-R-421.

Chapters

• 0:00 Bible Talk Introduction and Welcome
• 1:42 Faith vs Fear: Why Choose Faith
• 3:32 The Story of Jairus's Daughter
• 8:10 The Spirit of Fear Robs Blessings
• 14:42 God's Promise: Fear Not
• 19:31 The I Don't Know Prayer
• 23:36 Closing Prayer and Contact Information

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:24

hey, you're listening to bible Talk with Sister Deb Osborne. You can listen to Bible Talk and much more on the 421 Podcast. You can find that streaming on Apple, spotify or whatever platform you're choosing. If you'd like to contact Sister Deb, you can email her at osbornek at gmailcom. That's O-S-B-O-R-N-E-D-E-B-R-A-K, and if you'd like to support the show, you can support it through PayPal Slash H-O-R-421, or you can go through our website at H-O-R-421showbuzzproutcom. Hey, now I'll give you your host the Bible Talk, sister Deb Osborne.

Speaker 1: 1:01

Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord Seems like it feels like it's been forever since I've been here. So, hello everybody. Thank you for listening and tuning in on Bible Talk. So I was thinking about all the craziness that's going on around us in the world. All that, just the goings on. I mean it's just crazy, and I thought, you know I wanted to do something. I've already done this once. So I went back and I redone some stuff and I added some stuff and I want to talk to you today about faith and fear actually. So I'm in the book of Mark. I love the book of Mark. I'm in Mark, chapter 5. I'm not going to go through every single verse, but I am on chapter verse 21 through 43 is a lot of what I'm talking about today is on those. Like I said, I'm not going to go over every single thing. I think you should read the story. It's a really good story there.

Speaker 1: 2:06

But we're talking about faith and you know having faith in something it's not denial. Having faith is facing your problems, focusing on God, and the most important thing that you can do right now, right now in your life, is to choose to have faith over fear. Right now in your life is to choose to have faith over fear. And you know, when fear comes, it can cause so many different things in your life. It can cause denial, procrastination, especially indecision. It can make you feel and make so many indecisions it's just crazy, man. But faith. Faith will enable you to face your fears, face your enemies, face your weaknesses, face your problems and then, when you face all those, fight them, knowing that God is bigger than anything standing in front of you, no matter what it is.

Speaker 1: 2:58

So there's a story in the book of Mark that it has a peculiar, one particular phrase that I want you to remember, especially when you feel fear rising up in you, and it's Mark 5, verse 39. And I'm only going to say a little bit of it. The one phrase that I want you to remember is and Jesus is saying this why make ye this ado? Why make ye this ado? And I am going to I'll explain that. So you see, this is a story about a 12 year old girl that had died, and it's really sad, it's really tragic. Now, why did this happen? I don't know. I know I can't imagine walking into that kind of situation and saying, wow, you know, why are y'all so upset? Why are you making a big deal out of anything? But Jesus told this little girl's father, this man his name was, I'm going to say, jarius, I'm not sure if I'm saying it right, god forgive me if I'm not. Anyway, so he was a ruler of one of the synagogues and and he came and he, he fell at Jesus' feet. He knew Jesus was coming by, so he wanted to go. And he came and he fell at Jesus' feet and he told Jesus my little girl is lying over here to the point of death and I pray that you just come and lay hands on her and heal her. And so Jesus went with him. And the Bible says that a lot of people followed him, you know, and on their way.

Speaker 1: 4:27

There's a couple of different acts of faith here. This one on their way they met a lady. She was a lady who had that blood issue for 12 years. You know she had suffered so many things, had been to, so many doctors spent all the money she had and nothing got her better. But the Bible says she even got worse. But when she heard that Jesus was walking by and coming through town or whatever, she wanted to just reach up and touch his garment. And she said in verse 28,. She said, for if I may touch his garment or touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. I mean, look at the faith there people, look at the faith this lady had. But they had come and told this. This man wanted his daughter to, wanted jesus to come and touch his daughter. And jesus told the father you know, be, be not afraid, I only believe. And you see, j Jesus is telling the Father this. You know, because you know, jesus knew the situation. He knew the situation for what it really was. He knew the outcome. Jesus knew that there was still hope when it looked like there was not any hope for them. And he wasn't making light of the tragedy, he wasn't downplaying their sorrow or their grief. He was telling them you know what, I'm here, don't fear. And so that's what I wanted to bring, this message today of faith.

Speaker 1: 5:58

And over and over again in the Bible we read God saying fear not. And I read somewhere that that was the most often given commandment fear not. And I read somewhere that it was mentioned about 366 times in the Bible fear not. It might not have been one of God's big commandments, but he told us that over and over and over, and that's a fear, not for every day of the week that you get up. But God is telling us today, people, when you feel afraid, you need to trust Him. Trust Him more. You need to choose faith over fear. And he's telling us if you've been panicking and you've been worrying and distressed, he's telling you to fear not because he's with you, people, he is with you. You know, when God is in our lives, all of our fear should be gone. We shouldn't have any fear. No-transcript. When you are still alive, when you are alive right now, you need faith. You know you can lose your job, you can lose your money your health, your home.

Speaker 1: 7:11

But you cannot lose your faith, because if you lose your faith, you've lost everything. And I want you to take this minute and take this message and receive it into your heart, people, and in your spirit this minute, and take this message and receive it into your heart, people, and in your spirit. That way, when you feel worried and you feel afraid and you feel panic coming on and you feel fear and anxiety, then you'll hear Jesus' voice say hey, you know what, don't fear, don't be afraid, just believe. So we're in Mark 5. We're talking about this. This young girl, you know, he, this 12 year old girl, and the bible doesn't tell us what happened to her. You know, and. But when jesus came into the house, you know, and he found all these people, they're wailing and they're crying, and and you know, and, and they wailed and wept. And jesus said, in verse 39, again, I tell you, he said why make ye this ado and wept? And Jesus said, in verse 39, again I tell you, he said why make ye this ado and weep? He said the damsel is not dead, she's sleeping. But the question is why make ye this ado? Why are you making such a big deal? Why are you crying and going on? Why are you troubled? Why are you distressed? People, that's the same thing that Jesus asked us today. Why are we making such a big deal out of stress and fear when all we got to do is give it to him? Why are you crying, you know? Why are you weeping loudly? Why are you troubled? You know and Jesus asked us this today Now he wasn't downplaying their tragedy.

Speaker 1: 8:45

He wasn't unaffected by their sorrow or their grief. He wasn't saying that there wasn't nothing wrong. What Jesus was really saying to them was you know what, in your darkest moments, I'm here. In your darkest days, you need to have faith, because I'm here. You know, people, faith is seeing light. Faith is seeing the light out there with your heart, when your eyes all your eyes see is darkness. You know Jesus was really telling these people hey, I'm here. And why are you crying? All I need you to do is believe. Just have faith.

Speaker 1: 9:29

And, friends, he's telling us that same thing today. Now, out there, you listen to me. I'm not saying that your problems are nothing. I'm not saying that your sickness isn't real or that your tears are fake. I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is when you get all of them things I just said sorrow and sickness and tears and you compare all of that to God. It is nothing compared to what he is and compared to the things that he can do for us. See, he doesn't fail us. He's with us every single day and he's telling us today, he is telling us today don't let fear or worry lead you to panic. Just have faith, just believe.

Speaker 1: 10:15

You know he said no matter what comes your way, no matter where you are, no matter whatever you face, he said I'm here, whatever problems you face, I'm here. Your marriage, your children, your finances, if you're sick, choose faith over fear. And that's exactly what God is telling us, people. You know he's a powerful God and he said to us that no weapons formed against us shall prosper. He said nothing could separate us from the love of God. And I believe that today, that spirit of fear is all around us, it's everywhere, and I believe it's going to do anything it can possibly do to get us to worry and to panic and to be stressed. And I believe right now, people, the spirit of fear is robbing God's people of some of God's richest blessings. You know, fear is a very powerful emotion and it's our flight or fight or flight response. You know what I'm saying. I try to say that, or I could understand it, but you know I kind of get them words mixed up. But when fear occupies our mind, it occupies our mind in a very unhealthy way.

Speaker 1: 11:27

People of God said in 2 Timothy 1,. He said God has not given us a spirit of fear but a power of love and a sound mind. I read a statement somewhere and it really makes kind of sense. He said it's hard to stop and smell the roses when all you can think about is getting pricked by the thorns. And I know some fear is necessary for survival, like spiders and snakes. I mean, I can't imagine playing in a nest of spiders and I can't imagine being on the ark for a year with spiders and snakes. But you know they did.

Speaker 1: 12:05

But friends, I'm telling you, how can we seek God's kingdom and his righteousness if we're bogged down with fear? And I want to tell you something else about fear. I want to tell you about the Israelite nation. In the book of Numbers we read that first, in number six, god promised the Israelites to bless them. He said the Lord bless them. The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord, make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. Then, over in Numbers 13, he gives them the promised land. He tells them it's yours, just go get it. It's yours, you know.

Speaker 1: 12:44

But see, they were so consumed with fear, they had fear, and so consumed with their fear that they didn't trust God. And instead of trusting God, they just complained. God told them take your blessing, it's there, just go get it. They didn't trust God, they had such a fear, they didn't trust him and they just complained. They came up with every reason possible not to go and get their promised land that God told them they had this. We can't attitude because of fear. And, brothers and sisters, I'm telling you today this is a time to choose faith, because you know, god holds the power of life and death and God holds the keys. And we have to choose faith over fear. We can't let fear get us down.

Speaker 1: 13:34

And I'm telling you, I was a very fearful child growing up. Every little thing around scared me. I mean, uh, I was a teeny, tiny little thing. You can't tell that now, but I was, and everything about around scared me. I was scared of everything. I remember my grandmother wouldn't let us walk to the store by herself. Up here in Kaywood the store was probably three to five blocks up the road and she wouldn't let us go.

Speaker 1: 14:02

Well, on the very first day that I gained my independence from my grandmother and walked to the store by myself, I walked up the railroad. I'm just happy and glee. I'm probably about eight and she could stand in the yard and watch me the whole way there and the whole way back. So I get up here and they had taught me how to cross the road, looking both ways and numerous times, and I'm standing there and I'm happy, happy and I'm feeling all good because my grandmother's letting me walk to the store by myself. Not a thing to be scared about. I'm looking and across the road was Joe Bill Carter's brother, pastor John Carter's dad's store, and I'm standing in front of the store. But I'm across the road and I'm waiting to go across. And I look up on this little side road and my cousin, a distant cousin of mine, comes walking down the road. She's a little older girl and all of a sudden, up now the blue, she passes out, she just faints, falls right in the road, right in the road. And I'm just a kid and it scared me so bad. It scared man, scared my trip of being by myself up the road. I ran all the way home, didn't even get to the store, I ran all the way home. So I was a real fearful child and you know that knocked me out of the blessing of being by myself at the store and not having nobody to hold my hand or make me, you know, stand and um.

Speaker 1: 15:19

And the reason I tell that is because you know, in the book of Numbers, god told Moses to send 12 spies out to look at the land of Canaan and we're still on the Israelites things and 10 of these men came back and they were so full of fear that all they saw was the difficulties. All they saw was the difficulties that they were going to face if they went to take their land that God had promised them. Ten of them said no, no, there's giants there, the place is too big, there's too many problems, we just can't do it. Fear. But two of them. Two of them said with faith, we can do this, we will win. Because they said, the Lord is with us. Numbers 14, that's a good story. I ought to read it.

Speaker 1: 16:10

Friends, I'm telling you we have to have faith. We have to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to have faith in the name above all names, faith in the power of the cross and the blood of the Lamb. We have to have faith in the blood that can cause the spirits of death to pass over your house. People, god promised to never leave us, never forsake us or never abandon us.

Speaker 1: 16:35

And I'm telling somebody today, I'm telling somebody today, right now, that God does not want you to live in fear. And, my friends, I'm telling you you will never inherit the blessings of God with a spirit of fear. Fear limits us. Fear says well, what if? What if we go to the land of Canaan? What if I walk up the road by myself? And what if? Fear limits us.

Speaker 1: 17:00

Now, faith, on the other hand, says even if, even if you know, and if we don't move away from our fears and move into faith, god will give our blessings to somebody else. And if you read about the Israelites, you'll see, because God gave them the first generation of Israelites, he gave them the land, but when it all boiled down to it, because of their faith or their fear, and because of their trusting, their lack of trusting God and their fear. It was actually the second generation that got to live there. None of them got to even go there.

Speaker 1: 17:37

And, my friends, today, I'm telling you, god today wants us to set our hearts on, and our minds on, heavenly things. We're going to have a new body, a new life. We're going to be free of pain and free of suffering. And if we are ever, ever, aimed to get to those heights, we have to put faith in God. We have to put all of our faith in Him. Now, I know the world is a very scary place and there's so many things going on around us right now.

Speaker 1: 18:08

But, my friends, today, god told us in Romans 8., 38 and 39. He said neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come. He said nor height or depth, nor any other creature Shall be able to separate us from the love of God. He said the promise is right there. You know, and, my friends, today I'm telling you, if you trust in God and trust in the Lord, he will deliver you from all of your fears. God said in Isaiah 41 10,. Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. God said in Isaiah 41.10, you know, friends, I know fear has been a part of the human existence since the fall of man in Genesis 3.

Speaker 1: 19:08

Existence since the fall of man in Genesis 3. It's in the book In Genesis 12, abraham lied to Sarah out of fear. In Genesis 32, jacob had this big fear of Esau. In Exodus 2, Moses feared Pharaoh Matthew 8, the disciples feared the storm. It's been there. Matthew 8, the disciples feared the storm. It's been there. And nothing has changed since. We're still caught up in the grips of fear. But, my friends, I'm here to tell you today and somebody needs to hear this Today we know the end of this story called life. God wins.

Speaker 1: 19:42

We win Our story. Our final page has already been wrote. We already know what it is. We can't let the middle stuff get us down. Praise the Lord when God knows. You know, we already know how this ends. God has already showed us, he's already wrote our page, people. But the middle stuff, the fear, the anxiety, the worry, we can't let that get us down. Man, we've got to give it to God and stand on His promises with faith, because we do come out victorious. You know, when you are afraid to choose faith over fear, read Psalms 91. Read the Word of God because, trust me people. Read the Word of God Because, trust me people, in the Word of God you will find faith to face your fears. You need to put your faith in the One who said I am your God and you are my people.

Speaker 1: 20:37

You know I ran up on a little prayer here. It's called the I Don't Know Prayer and I can't remember now where I got it. But I'm telling you, when you hear these, you feel these anxieties coming on and you have fear coming on and you have the stress coming on and you feel all these crazy things. People just go somewhere, quiet and alone, alone, and walk right up to the heart of God and tell God you know what God, I don't know. Tell God I don't know where to go from here. Tell him I don't know how to process this. Say, I don't know what to do with these emotions, I don't know how to handle these situations. And I'm telling you that's a whole lot of I don't knows. That covers a lot of things. And then, with the tiniest bit of faith that you have left in your heart, but you say God, but you know, and I know you know, and you leave them there with him. And you leave them there Because he hears you, he always hears you, he always hears you.

Speaker 1: 21:46

He just wants you to hear you say it. My people, today I want you to understand and please, please understand You've got to put your faith in God. If you have not given your life to the Lord and you've not given him any at all of your life and you haven't trusted him, now is the time, with all the craziness that's going on around us and all the craziness that's to come, now is the time to put your faith in Jesus Christ and he will see you through any, any dark tunnel and any dark road that you go down. And, people, today, if you have put your faith in God and maybe you feel that your faith is lingering a little bit back, maybe you feel that you need to renew your faith, maybe you need to work on your faith. Then, friends, today, go somewhere and get down on your knees and pray and ask God to give you that measure of faith. We all have a measure of faith. Ask God to help you with that faith, because without it you don't have nothing. We have to have the faith. I know it's hard to understand and hard to because you don't see it. I know it's hard to understand, but, people, without that faith, we're nothing. We have to have that faith In the times that's coming on us, in the times that right here and right now, what's coming in the future? You will need that faith and I'm going to leave you with this.

Speaker 1: 23:16

Friends, today, I hope each and everybody, I hope this has blessed somebody. I hope somebody has heard what I've said today here about faith, and I hope this has blessed somebody. I hope somebody has heard what I've said today here about faith, and I hope this has blessed you as much as it's blessed me to give it to you, to bring it to you. I thank you so much for listening to Bible Talk and please join us again next week. I'm going to close with a prayer. So, our Father, god in heaven, we ask you, god, to bless these people that are listening to this today, lord, and touch their hearts, lord, touch their minds. Let them open up their ears and open up their hearts and minds to you and let them understand that all they've got to do is put their faith in you.

Speaker 1: 23:54

That all they've got to do is cry out to you and leave it there with you, everything, their troubles, their sorrows, their pain, their suffering. All they have to do is have a little bit of faith. Just let them give their lives to you, lord, let them renew their lives to you, let them reach out to you Somehow, someway, touch their hearts, lord, the people that's listening here. Let these words go to the ears that need to hear it. We thank you, lord, for another day, for another episode of Bible Talk, and we thank you for everything you've given us. We thank you for the faith, lord, that we know is out there. We just have to reach out and grab it. We praise you, we honor you and we love you. Today, god, and we ask these and all things in Jesus' holy name, we pray Amen and amen, and God bless everybody hey, you've been listening to bible talk with sister dev osborne.

Speaker 2: 24:52

if you'd like to contact sister dev, you can email her at osborne dever k at gmailcom, recorded at the 421 studio for contact information. For all your studio needs you can email at hor421ministries at gmailcom. Phone number is 239-849-1502.