Overcoming The Fear Of Man by Kate McVeigh

After I went to Bible School, I began to receive invitations to minister. Speaking in front of people was a strong area of intimidation for me as a schoolgirl. Well, I started to preach. I shook, quivered, and trembled, but remained determined to overcome the intimidation of people and hold on tightly to God's hand.

I confessed over and over, "...I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee" (Isa. 41:13).

I was especially intimidated in certain meetings where other ministers were gathered. I remember praying, "Lord, deliver me from being intimidated around my peers, and help me to overcome fear and to be bold!" And then I confessed, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and I am as bold as a lion!"

Then I learned a very important lesson: we should be careful what we pray for!

Suddenly, well-known preachers and teachers were in almost every meeting I attended. When I prayed for God to deliver me, He sent me right into that situation! If I allowed the devil to get the best of me by taking over my thoughts, I would just fold up—and I couldn't do that!

Rev. Kenneth Hagin hosted a series of Holy Ghost meetings about that time, and I attended as many of those meetings as I could. One particular evening, after a day off that had turned into a entire day of shopping, I decided to slip into the meeting to hear some good preaching.

I hadn't spent a lot of time in prayer that day. I hadn't even washed my hair! I thought, "This is my day off. I'm not going to have to do anything there. I'm just going to go over there and receive the Word of the Lord."

I grabbed a Bible on my way out the door and found a seat in the auditorium just as Brother Hagin stepped to the podium. He said, "The Lord is using women in ministry today...." I praised the Lord and thought, "I'm glad he said that. That's good news for me!"

Brother Hagin continued, "As a matter of fact, we're going to have a woman preach tonight." I thought, "Wow! Cool! I wonder who it is. This is going to be good." He said, "Kate...." And my heart went...whomp!

Then I thought, "Maybe there's another Kate out hear somewhere. I sure hope so." But Brother Hagin said, "Kate McVeigh, come on up here and preach." Talk about intimidation trying to get a stronghold!

Once I recovered from the shock and finally stood to my feet, I started walking toward the front of the auditorium when someone reminded me that I didn't have my Bible, so I went back to my seat, grabbed my Bible, and took off.

You can imagine what went through my mind when I got to the podium and realized that the Bible I had picked up as I ran out of the house was one of those daily devotional Bibles laid out with selected passage of Scripture from the Old and New Testaments, Psalms, and Proverbs. It isn't really designed as a reference book. It's a method of reading through the Bible in a year.

I knew I couldn't preach from that Bible! I wouldn't be able to locate scriptures quickly enough, so I didn't read them, I quoted them.

Praise the Lord! He moved powerfully that evening, and after the first few minutes of crippling fear, I became very bold. I learned that God can do anything...through anyone...in spite of all kinds of uncomfortable circumstances.

Overcome 1 John 5:4

In my most favorite book on the planet; (Sparkling Gems From The Greek) Rick Renner says the following.

The word "overcometh" is the Greek word nikos. It means to conquer. It was used to portray athletes who had gained the mastery of the competition and ultimately reigned supreme as champions over the games.

The Holy Spirit was careful in His selection of this word nikos. This word communicates vivid images that pertain to our walk of faith and victory. First, it tells us that when we begin the walk of faith, we enter into a real-life competition. The decision to walk by faith puts us right smack dab in the center of the ring where the contest immediately begins.

This is so important to understand, because too often we wrongly presume that if we walk by faith, we will be removed from all problems. But our faith pits us directly opposite the devil's powers. He hates our faith because he knows what it can do! For this reason, Satan may try to go for a knock-out punch. But even if he knocks us flat, he can't keep us down on the ground!

The apostle Paul testified to this when he said that he was "...cast down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:9). One translation says, "We occasionally get knocked down, but never get knocked out!" Those who are born of God have the supernatural ability to keep getting up again, no matter how many times they fall! Remember, John wrote, "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world."

Because the word "overcometh" is the Greek word nikos, it tells us that we are the ultimate champions and describes our superior position as children of God over the world. We are fully armed with everything we need to be super-conquerors in this life!

Overcome (nikao) means to conquer, to be victorious or to prevail in the face of obstacles. Romans 3:4 (note) speaks of God prevailing as in a legal accusation against Him!
 
Overcome describes the quality of a true saint who may stumble and fall but who God always picks up and he continues onward and upward in the power and motivation of the victory Christ has won for us on the Cross.
 
In Webster's American Dictionary of the English language (1828) overcome means to conquer; to vanquish; to subdue; as, to overcome enemies in battle. To surmount; to get the better of; as, to overcome difficulties or obstacles. To gain the superiority; to be victorious.

There are 28 uses on nikao in the NT (4 verses use nikao twice) -  Lk 11:22; Jn 16:33; Ro 3:4; Ro 12:21; 1Jn 2:13; 4:4; 5:4, 5; Rev. 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:26; 3:5, 3:12, 3:21; 5:5; 6:2; 11:7; 12:11; 13:7; 15:2; 17:14; 21:7