FEAR
“Fear
thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help
thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. For I
the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will
help thee.” Isaiah 41:10, 13
In
the Garden, Adam and Eve had no fear. No
fear of the animals, no fear of the weather, no fear about where the next meal
would come from, and no fear in walking and talking with their Creator. But once sin entered, fear was one of their
first responses. Hence, they hid. God knows that fear is now a part of our
makeup.
We
fear the future and the past, responsibility and accountability, the unknown
and the known, giving love and receiving love, crowds and loneliness, etc. These fears are the things that keep us
stewing and fretting. They keep us awake
at night and make us grumpy in the day.
This
verse in Isaiah is not the first or only time the Lord God instructs his people
to not fear. There are 365 verses in
God’s Word telling us not to fear. The
wonderful thing is that His instruction is not empty; it is backed up by His
power and His ability to be our courage.
He will strengthen us. He will
help us. He will uphold us. All of our fears are simply fears. The only power they have is what we give
them. When we step out from our hiding place
and truly believe that God has everything in control, fear has to flee.
Are
you plagued by fear? Do you tremble at
the thought of another day? Do you live
with that fearful dread that something will go wrong? Why not just place those fears before the
Lord? Come out of your hiding place and
let Him be your courage.
“As soon as Jesus heard the word
that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only
believe.” Mark 5:36
Jairus,
the ruler of the synagogue, has just had the terrible news that his daughter is
dead. He had stepped out on a limb to
ask Jesus to come and heal his daughter, but time was up. Hope was gone. He was even told to just not trouble Jesus
any further. But the Lord of Life had a
different response. “Be not afraid, only
believe.”
Tiegreen
makes this observation, “There are at least two things Jesus would have us
learn from this verse: (1) Negative
reports are not the final analysis of a horrible situation; and (2) fear is at
war against our faith. When all hell
breaks loose against us – and it quite literally does, sometimes – Jesus would
have us ignore its ultimate weapon. Do
NOT believe its reports. The enemy – and
the death he wields against us - will devastate us if we let them. But we have a choice. We can fear, or we can believe. We can’t do both. We have to pick one.”
Jesus
went straight on to the house, and though the people laughed at him, he knew
the power he wielded – the power of life.
He took Jairus and his wife into the room and showed that power as he
called the girl back to life.
Jairus
chose to believe and he saw the miracle.
That is not to say that choosing to believe will bring about a miracle
every time. But it does say that
believing is the better choice.
Believing shows that we trust the Lord.
Fear reveals the opposite.
The
enemy loves to bring bad news. He loves
to try to shake our foundations. However,
foundations that are deeply rooted in the love of Christ and believe in His
Word will not yield long to fear. The
wind may blow and the rain may come crashing in, but the calmness of our
Saviour will steady our hearts to face any storm.
Remember: “…we have a choice. We can fear, or we can believe. We can’t do both. We have to pick one.” I choose to believe. How about you?
FEAR
“There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in
love.” I John 4:18
Here
the use of the word fear is more than just being afraid, it is terror. Try reading
it like this: There is no terror in
love; but real love chases terror away because terror is tormenting or
punishing. He that is fearful or alarmed
will struggle with love.
Or: We need have no fear of someone who loves us
perfectly; perfect love eliminates all dread of what might be done unto us. If
we are afraid, it is for fear of what someone might do to us and shows that we
are not fully convinced of his or her love.
Movies have been made about women, and men, who
live lives in fear of what their spouse or partner will do to them. Though told they are loved, this love is
expressed in harshness and keeps them in terror. Sadly, these movies are often based on real
stories.
A life of fear is a life of bondage. Hebrews 2:15 confirms this: “And deliver them who through fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
This is exactly why Christ came – to deliver us from fear and bondage
and destroy the devil.
There is a better way of life. There is a way out of fear. It is that perfect love mentioned in I
John. God is love and we can love Him
because He first loved us.
If you are living a life of bondage and fear or
in a relationship that is characterized by fear, bring it to Christ and ask for
deliverance. If you are using fear or
terror to keep someone in bondage, know that there is a better way. Real love doesn’t have to be forced. God’s perfect love for you can meet your need
and teach you how to love without threatening and torment.
FEAR
“And
he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven,
which hath made the sea and they dry land.” Jonah 1:9
What a
contradiction! Here is Jonah, caught out
by the casting of lots, and all fingers are pointing to him as being the source
of the problem. These poor mariners
already know that he is running from the presence of the Lord, and yet Jonah
has the audacity to tell them that he fears the Lord.
From
reading the story it would seem the mariners were more fearful of the Lord than
Jonah. Jonah seems to think he can
outsmart God or outrun him. The mariners
have no such thoughts. They know the
hand of God is upon their lives and this prophet’s actions are placing them in
danger. They also respect the fact that
Jonah is a man of God, and as such, they are not ready to cast him into the
sea. But, after trying again to bring
the boat to land, they cast themselves upon the mercy of God and chuck Jonah
overboard.
Then
the sea ceases from her raging and the men “feared the Lord exceedingly”. But Jonah? No. He takes three more days in the belly of the
whale before he is ready to admit defeat and yield.
We
are quick to condemn Jonah and it is easy for us to see the foolishness of his
actions, but we are not quick to condemn ourselves when we make empty boasts of
our spirituality. Nor is it easy for us
to see the foolish consequences of our actions as we try to make life work
without a submissive and healthy fear of the Lord.
There
are few things as distasteful as a carnal and hypocritical Christian,
especially one who isn’t afraid to boast of their disobedience. Are you in that boat?
FEAR
“…let
us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear.” Hebrews 12:28
I
like this phrase, “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear”. I am rather old school in so many ways. I still believe that people should be respectful
in the house of God, modestly attired and self-controlled and show respect to
the man of God. I believe we should lay
aside our own agenda’s and conform to God’s Word instead of trying to see just
how closely we can live with the world and still feel like Christians. I believe many times what we know to be
acceptable in the sight of God is a far cry from what we are allowing in our
lives. I believe God’s standard is higher
and we are failing.
Throughout
the Bible we read that people showed reverence to God and to the things that
represented His person and presence.
Here in Hebrews the term “godly fear” means submissive reverence. It is a reverence that yields to a higher
power. God expects our reverence and submission, and he deserves it. He is God.
However,
we live in an age that strives to make everyone equal, including God. Showing reverence, and especially submissive
reverence, is seen as silly and unnecessary.
That is because humanism pervades even our attitudes toward worship and
obedience. We so often fail to hold God
with high enough esteem and our lives prove it.
We are not afraid with a godly fear.
We are rebellious and self-willed.
We do not want to submit. We want
to have our way.
Yet,
if we are to serve him acceptably, there must be reverence (an awe filled
respect) and godly fear (submissive reverence). There is no room for our own
agenda and rebellious attitude. If we
read verse 29 of Hebrews 12 we can see why – “For our God is a consuming
fire.” He is not to be trifled with, He
is to be respected and reverenced.
What
about you? Do you still believe God is
worthy of your reverence and respect? Do
you live what you believe? Or, do you
find yourself allowing things in your life that you know would not be pleasing
to the Lord? Are you living a life you
consider acceptable to God? Would God
and His Word agree with you?
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