This life is full of opportunities
to fear - something. Arachnophobia – is
the fear of spiders. Acrophobia – is the fear of heights. Agoraphobia – is the fear
of leaving your house. Autophobia – is the fear of being alone. Scotophobia – is
the fear of the dark. Anthropophobia – is the fear of being around people
(being in crowds). Nosemaphobia – is the
fear of getting sick. Mysophobia – is the fear of germs. Thanatophobia – is the fear of dying. I will
stop there – you get the idea. The list
of fears is exhaustive.
Fear can be debilitating – even
make you physically sick - to cause you to do irrational things. Fear is
different from respect. I know a stove
is hot so I don’t touch it with my hand.
I am not afraid of the stove, but I respect it – understand the fact that
it can harm me if I disregard the harmful effects of touching it when it is
hot. So when Jesus said do not be afraid
– He was not saying “Go ahead and touch the stove.” He was speaking to the uncertainties
– the “what if’s” in life. He was speaking
about letting faith in your heavenly Father be preeminent in your life. Read these verses …
Luke 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not
fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can
do.”
There is a greater reality than
this mortal life that we have.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
We have been sealed by the
Spirit of God not a spirit of fear. That means that, as Christians, we have the capacity to not be fearful. It is a question of where we place our reliance
– our ability to deal with what live brings or may being – or our Father in
heaven. Jesus said …
John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace
I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be
troubled and do not be afraid.”
He is the source of peace –
not fearing. Proverbs 3:5-6 says trust
God – not yourself. That is easy to say
but not so easy to do. Especially if you
are not practicing the disciplines of the faith. In the military – physical fitness is
important. The reason is that when you
are tested in battle – the physical demands are incredible and if you have not
prepared before you face them – you will not be able to stand.
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will
be with you wherever you go.”
God was reminding Joshua that
Joshua was not alone in what God commanded him to do. God was with him. And God is with us as well.
I realize that my writing
this may not convince to not fear whatever it is that you fear. Logic rarely, if
ever, wins over emotion. But faith – oh that is something else again. Let me
leave you with what Jesus said about it.
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or
drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or
reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour
to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the
field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in
all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the
grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,
will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need
them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Trust God (1 Peter 5:7) CHARLEY
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