Hank Smith: 00:05 Hello, everyone. Welcome to followHIM Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I’m here with the incredible and amazing and wonderful John Bytheway. Hi, John.

John Bytheway: 00:12 Hey, how are you?

Hank Smith: 00:13 We are answering a question from each of this year’s Come, Follow Me lessons. The lesson this week is in the beginning of 1 Samuel, chapters 8-18, roughly. John, the question we’re going to take on today is one that I get from my own children and from my students, and that is, how do I overcome fear? Fear can be paralyzing, where I’m scared of making a wrong decision. I’m scared of something bad happening. I’m scared, so I just don’t do anything. How do you help young people overcome fear? How did you yourself overcome fear?

John Bytheway: 00:49 I just ran and hide and got under a blanket, and that helped.

Hank Smith: 00:54 Okay. “And I survived until this day.”

John Bytheway: 00:56 There is such great advice in, oh, Hank, is it section 38? “If you are prepared, you shall not fear.” Just to practice, to go through it. I mean, like giving talks or something. When I was maybe seven or eight or nine or something, the astronauts were landing on the moon in those days, and I remember reading something about all of the things that Neil Armstrong said when he was on the moon. “One small step for man, giant leap for mankind.” But something else he said up there that I didn’t know, but it’s in a talk I heard somebody give, he said, “Just like drill.”

Hank Smith: 01:33 Oh, really?

John Bytheway: 01:34 They had practiced it so many times before, that he was so prepared, that this is going just like drill. I’d already prepared for it in my mind. And so, I think that’s great advice. If it’s the type of thing you can prepare for, then prepare for it. There’s nothing wrong with getting up, practicing, giving your talk to the piano,give your talk to the fridge before you have to do it.

Hank Smith: 01:58 Practice asking that girl out on a date. Try to prep for the test.

John Bytheway: 02:04 There’s a sense of calmness that comes with, “Hey, I worked hard. I prepared for this. I think I can do this.” Sometimes, we just forget we’re among friends in certain situations. You’re going to give a talk at church, hey, you’re among friends. All of us have been there before. But, like you said, you’re going to ask a girl out on a date? Hey, I’ll tell you, I practiced as a teenager. What am I going to say? I’m going to say, “Hey, if you’re not busy on Thursday, I was going to …” I think, scripturally, that is such great advice. Just be prepared. And you know what? I still feared a little bit, but it was a lot easier, because I was somewhat prepared.

Hank Smith: 02:41 You know, David does some things here in his battle with Goliath that I think can help us answer this question. One, David only goes with what he knows. He goes with his strengths. He goes with those five smooth stones and his sling. He doesn’t want to go in with the armor he hasn’t practiced with.

John Bytheway: 02:59 A weapon he’s never used before, yeah.

Hank Smith: 03:01 Right. So, this is the idea of preparation. He understands how this works. Part of David’s confidence in overcoming his fear is probably the hours and hours of practicing with the sling out in the shepherd’s field. I pictured this isn’t the first time David has ever used a sling. I don’t know what that looks like with hours of scripture study, or hours of prayer, or whatever it is that already I have behind me, I can move forward with my confidence in the skillset that I have.

Hank Smith: 03:30 Second, he announces to the world, and especially to his enemy, that, “I come in the name of the Lord of hosts.” I remember Elder Holland saying, “Beware any battle in which you’re fighting on the wrong side.” The opposite of that is, go forward in any battle in which you’re fighting on the right side. You know you’re on the right side here, so move forward.

Hank Smith: 03:52 And then what does David do when he sees Goliath? He ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. He didn’t hang back and wait and think, “Okay.” He moves forward.

Hank Smith: 04:03 So, three things I think we can do from this story to overcome our fear, John, is practice, practice, practice. Prepare, prepare, prepare. In whatever fear it is. Even if it’s just fear of life. Well, learn all you can. Read, study, learn, be competent. Second, is trust the Lord and be on the right side. Be on the Lord’s side of the line. And then, third, go forward. Run forward. Isn’t it amazing that he ran towards Goliath?

John Bytheway: 04:32 I love, too, that there’s something to be said about the fact he picked five stones out of the brook. I call it Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D. There was a backup plan. Why did he take five? He was such a good shot, but he still took five.

Hank Smith: 04:48 He’s over-prepared.

John Bytheway: 04:50 Yeah. This is for a contingency if something else should happen. There are Goliaths out there, but I like that, “I come in the name of the Lord of hosts.” The Lord is on our side. We sing that in a hymn. Do we believe it? “Fear not for the Lord is on our side.” And Elder Bednar we’ll heed not what the wicked may say. The Lord’s on our side. That helps a lot. We can stand up when we’re in a situation where we might fear.

Hank Smith: 05:14 I think, John, if I was scared for the future, if I was thinking, “Oh, what am I going to do?” Instead of running, go hiding in my blanket like you said earlier, I would do these three things. One, I would make sure I’m on the Lord’s side of the line. Two, I would become as competent and prepared as I possibly can in all varieties of life. Be ready for anything. Be prepared for anything you can think of. Prepare for it. Think of it. Don’t waste your time. I’ve heard you say this before, John, “Don’t waste your time in front of the TV. Get prepared, work on your talents, work on your competency.” You’ve told me before, “Don’t watch other people live their dreams.”

John Bytheway: 05:49 Some people dream of doing great things. Others wake up and do them.

Hank Smith: 05:53 Yeah. It’s this idea of don’t just watch other people live out their dreams on TV. Go live your dreams. And then, lastly, and I think we’ve got to mark this in 1 Samuel 17:48, “Run towards what you’re afraid of.” Go at it. Because odds are, you’re going to be like David, and you’re going to be victorious.

John Bytheway: 06:10 Yeah, I like the idea that if you’re in a canoe and a big wave is coming at you, the safest thing to do is to go right at it.

Hank Smith: 06:17 Head right at it. Yep.

John Bytheway: 06:19 The only way through some things is through. Go right at it. You’ll probably surprise yourself.

Hank Smith: 06:23 I love it. Run toward it, and like David, you’re going to shock the world. I love this story, because it’s known for all time. David and Goliath. Almost anybody can tell you what that story is about. I think that’s going to happen to our listeners as they go toward the enemy, that you’re going to become the thing of legend.

Hank Smith: 06:41 All right. My friends, join us next week for followHIM favorites. Come join us on our regular podcast. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. It’s called followHIM. This week, we are going to be studying these chapters with Dr. Daniel Peterson. He’s a lot of fun, has a great voice. You’ll want to hear from him, so come join us over there.