There are people who live expecting evil. Fear governs their thoughts, their actions, and their decisions. Even though they are born again, they still operate with an escape mentality. They enter a vehicle and deliberately sit close to the door—just in case something happens. They live in insecurity for years, constantly imagining disaster. And when something eventually happens, they are not surprised. Then people say, "He was attacked," "He had an accident," "He lost a leg," but it happened because they had already been expecting it.

That was the kind of life Job lived. Job was not like Abraham. The Bible introduces him by saying, "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" (Job 1:1). But being perfect and upright is not the same thing as walking in faith. Faithfulness and faith are not the same. You can be faithful without operating in faith.

Faithfulness means consistency—you attend church, you pray, you give your tithes. That is faithfulness, and it has its rewards. But faith is believing the Word of God and acting as though it is true. Faith has its own blessings.

Job was faithful, upright, and consistent, but his actions revealed fear. The Bible tells us that "…Job..rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings..for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually" (Job 1:5). Job gave offerings out of fear. He gave sacrifices because he feared his children might have sinned against God. His offerings were not born out of faith like Solomon's; they were out of fear. He was expecting evil. He wanted to cover every possibility of wrongdoing, just in case.

And guess what happened? When Satan struck, everything he feared came to pass. Job lost his children, his wealth, and even his health. While sitting in sickness and pain, he confessed the truth about his life: "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, And that which I was afraid of is come unto me" (Job 3:25). Job acknowledged he was never in safety, never at rest. The hedge of protection God had around him was destroyed by his fear and negative confessions.

But that is not God's will for His children. Scripture is clear that "…God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear is a spirit, and it brings torment. We are not commanded to manage fear—we are commanded to refuse it.

Job's story teaches us that even when God builds a hedge of protection, fear and negative confessions can destroy it. But you don't have to live that way. Refuse fear. Refuse evil expectations. Choose faith. Speak what God has said, not what you are afraid of. Walk boldly in the confidence of His Word.