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Insecurity is an epidemic that is reeking havoc on our lives, our family’s lives, and everyone around us. I don’t know about you, but I am sick of it! I am tired of dealing with it in my own head, but I am also tired of seeing so many loved ones and friends struggle with it as well. Let’s learn some ways we can be freed from the vicious cycle of insecurity. In part one of this series, I explained that only in the truth of the Gospel can we ever hope to even begin to battle the beast of insecurity in our lives. If you didn’t read the first section, please click here to read it first. Battling Insecurity (part 1)

Ultimately, I have found what I consider to be 6 of the biggest causes for our insecurity, and I want to share some of what the Bible says to combat them. Today, I will go over the first 2.

I’m going to spend most of my time in the book of Genesis in the Bible getting examples from the story of Sarah. She is mentioned in the Bible for the first time in chapter 11 of Genesis and then her story ends in Genesis 23. Sarah’s name is also mentioned 4 times in the New testament.

First we are told in Genesis 11 that Sarai is Abram’s wife. (later, God changes their names to Sarah and Abraham, so that’s what I’ll be calling them). What is the first thing that we learn about Sarah besides that she is married to Abraham? Genesis 11: 30, “Sarai was barren; she had no children.” This will be important in the next point I make, but I wanted you to all notice that besides being introduced as Abraham’s wife, she is made known to be infertile. That would be like being introduced to a group of strangers as this is ________, she struggles with _______.

The next thing we learn about her is in Genesis 12:11. We learn that Sarah was a stunningly beautiful woman.Wherever she went, she often received great favor and privilege because of her beauty. Even Muslim tradition suggests that she was so beautiful that she resembled Eve.That kind of beauty can cause a number of problems for women, but let’s go ahead and pick up the story starting in Genesis 12:10 and we’ll read through 20.

“10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.”

Now I can’t pin this one on just Sarah, but she did seem to go happily along with Abraham’s “brilliant” plan. God had made wonderful promises to bless Abraham abundantly and to bless future generations after him. And Even though Abraham knew all that God had promised to him, he still felt fear about what the Egyptians would do to him once they saw his wife. So he and Sarah decided to pretend that she was his sister. So of course, the poor Egyptian Pharaoh fell for Sarah immediately because of her immense beauty, and tried to smooth talk his way with Abraham to let him marry “his sister”. But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with plagues. This part of the story brings me to my first point on what can cause insecurity.

Insecurity can be caused by:

1. Fearing man rather than fearing the Lord (and really just fear in general)

The terms “the fear of man” and “the fear of the Lord” are rather Christianese types of phrases. The fear of man means: caring more about what man thinks than what God thinks(People-pleasers). I also added fear in general to this list because fearing the uncontrollable and unknown rather than trusting in the Lord in all circumstances is still the fear of man… it’s fear for man or self. And the fear of the Lord means: caring more about what God thinks about you than what man thinks (God-pleasers).

How many times do we find ourselves making decisions based on fear- fear for what others will think or what will happen, rather than on making decisions based on what God wants or even what we know is right? Everything from what we wear, our hair and makeup, what we eat, where we shop, where we sit, who we talk to, what we do or don’t do, who we date or don’t date, how we raise our kids or treat people who are different than us…I could go on and on.

Have you ever noticed that when we are living to impress other people, someone inevitably gets hurt? Sadly, not only do we get hurt, but it is the people around us who often get hurt the most as collateral damage.

If anyone shouldn’t have feared the famine or feared what the Egyptians would think, Sarah and Abraham should have known better. They knew the LORD personally. God had already made great promises to Abraham that he and his offspring would be greatly blessed. They also knew that the Lord would have given them all they needed if they would have just asked. It doesn’t say what the plagues were, but I can only imagine that they must have caused enough suffering for Pharaoh to recognize the work of God Almighty. He knew who God was and that this God needed to be respected- even when Abraham and Sarah didn’t!
There are few things that sting more than a non-believer asking, “Aren’t you supposed to be a christian? Why are you acting that way or why are you being like that?”
Our insecurity does the same thing. Instead of trusting God, we trust ourselves. In the process of making ourselves great, we hurt others (and ourselves). We try to seek glory for ourselves instead of giving glory to God.

Proverbs 15:16 says, “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord (famine anyone?) than great treasure and trouble with it.”

Those poor Egyptians paid the price for Abraham and Sarah’s fear and people-pleasing. But it wasn’t just the Egyptians, we find their family also paid a price.

In the following chapter we find that Abraham had accumulated so much wealth and livestock (thank you, Pharaoh of Egypt) that he and his nephew got in an argument over the land. Lot ended up moving his family on the outskirts of the sinful city of Sodom and gets into a lot of trouble there- meaning also much heartache and trouble for Abraham and Sarah.

Ultimately, the main reason we try to please people is because we want to feel accepted and loved. But God wants us to come to Him to be accepted and loved first. Unlike man’s ever-changing opinions and affections, God’s love is steadfast. Check out Psalm103:17 “But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children.” Wouldn’t it be remarkable to be so content and secure in the steadfast love of the Lord as we seek to live for Him that not just the people around us notice, but our children and grandchildren take note and break the cycle of insecurity caused by being people pleasers? That would be incredible!

God wants us to live to please Him in all things and not to worry so much about everyone else. That attitude alone would free us from so much insecurity!

Insecurity can also be caused by:

2.Seeking Fulfillment Outside of God
Okay, so remember when I pointed out that Sarah was known to be barren or unable to bear children? Well, that little insecurity in Sarah’s life comes to a breaking point in Genesis 16. Let’s read some (through vs 6).

“1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.”

Wow! How’s that for a mess? Keep in mind that Sarah knew about the promise that God made with Abraham to bless his offspring and to bring about the eventual Savior through their line. Considering she was his wife, she wanted to get crackin’ on having all those babies, but she was still unable to have any children. Talk about pressure! They tried and tried for decades… DECADES!! But she was still childless. I really do feel for her, and to be honest, I probably would have been pretty insecure myself if I were her. I would have probably done something just as stupid if I were in her sandals.
You see, a discontented heart often seeks purpose, fulfillment, and worth outside of God and this will always end in disaster and in greater insecurity.

For us here today, the consequences of our decisions based on our insecurities may not seem to be quite as glaring as Sarah’s, yet somehow the end result is always the same: greater insecurity and a BIG mess! The more we try to self-medicate or self-fulfill those “not _____ enough” feelings or feelings of great doubt and worthlessness, the more empty we feel. For some it may be an addiction to alcohol or drugs; for others it could be sex or romantic novels that are filled with “fulfilling love stories and romance”; It could be obsessive exercising, eating disorders, or even a food addiction; some could be hiding an emotional or physical affair; and often our overworked social calendars and busyness, distraction by internet sites and tv shows are all ways we find to escape reality or responsibilities.

No matter what “it” is that you use to try to soothe your insecurities, know this: it will always have consequences. Always. You see, Sarah tried desperately to fill her empty longings and insecurities for a baby through Hagar,and what she ended up with instead was bitter jealousy and rage.The consequences of Sarah’s attempt to fulfill God’s promise on her own through Hagar is still the main root of the problems we see today in the Middle East! Consequences indeed!!

Psalm106:36 “They served their idols (anything that we try to use to fill ourselves and worship other than God), and they became a snare to them.”
Exodus 22:20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god, other than the LORD alone, shall be devoted to destruction.”
Those verses are ‘heavy’, but the truth remains. NOTHING on this earth has the power to fulfill your longings or to fix your insecurities- only God can do that.
You can be satisfied in God. You can be secure in Him.
Isaiah 58:11-12 offers such a promise of security: “And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt! You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets to dwell in.” Praise God that He can and will fill the places we are lacking and help us move past our addictions!

Stay tuned for more!