Fear or Fulfillment: Which One Are You Living Toward?

Today, let’s open the Word together and look at the book of Proverbs. If you want to follow along, turn to Proverbs 10:24. That is our focus for today: Fear or fulfillment.

“What the wicked dread will overtake them, what the righteous desire will be granted.”

Let’s slow down and think carefully about what that means.

First, let’s deal with the wicked. Scripture says, “What the wicked dread will come upon them.” That means the very fears, the very anxieties, the very terrors that they carry in their hearts will sooner or later show up in their lives.

Why? Because sin never produces peace. Sin never rewards. Sin only plants fear, and eventually that fear takes root and comes alive.

Think about it. The gambler dreads losing it all, and eventually, he does. The liar dreads being exposed, and in time, the truth comes out. The adulterer dreads being found out, and sooner or later, it unravels.

Sin never protects anyone.
Sin never produces life.
It only produces destruction.

That is why the wicked live in dread, and why what they fear eventually comes upon them.

But now look at the other side of this verse: “What the righteous desire will be granted.”

This is a promise. But let me tell you something important. It is not a blanket promise that God will give us anything we want while we are still clinging to sin.

This is where so many believers get it wrong. As long as you and I are carrying sin in our lives, even if we believe in Christ, the flow of blessing is hindered.

You can pray. You can ask. But if your life is not submitted, if you are not walking in obedience, if you are holding onto bitterness, dishonesty, or rebellion, those prayers go unanswered.

Isaiah 59:2 says, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.”

That is strong, but it is true.

The desires of the righteous are granted because righteousness lines us up with the will of God. When you are living in submission, when you are surrendered to the Word, when you are walking in obedience, then your desires are purified. Your desires are not selfish anymore. They are shaped by God, and because of that, He delights in granting them.

Here are some examples to think about.

You may desire peace in your home, but if you refuse to forgive and keep bitterness in your heart, that peace will not come.
You may desire financial stability, but if greed or dishonesty rules your decisions, God will not bless that.
You may desire healing, but if you refuse to walk in obedience or care for the body He gave you, you are blocking the very prayer you are making.

This verse is both a warning and a promise.

It warns us that the wicked cannot escape their fears. Sin will always come back around. But it promises us that if we live righteously, if we walk submitted, if we align ourselves with God’s Word, then the desires of our heart will be granted.

Not because God gives us everything we want, but because righteousness changes what we want. It shapes our desires so that they line up with His desires. And those, He always grants.

So, if you are wondering why your prayers are going unanswered, ask yourself this: Am I holding onto sin? Am I refusing to let go of something God has already told me to lay down?

Because until that sin is removed, you are standing in the way of your own blessing.

But when you walk in righteousness, when you confess and forsake sin, when you submit yourself to God fully, then the promise of Proverbs 10:24 becomes real in your life.

What you desire, because it is aligned with God’s will, will be granted.

That is the power of walking in righteousness.

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