It has become more than a show; it seems to be the current reality we live in. You can sense it all around you. You see it on the media. You see it in your family, friends and co-workers. It is that overwhelming sense that everything is going wrong and we are powerless. It is fear. The forms it comes in vary, but the result is the same. It may be fear of a global financial crisis, fear of pending nuclear war, fear of famine across multiple continents, fear of natural disasters, fear for the loss of our jobs or even fear that we are living in the end times prophesied in the Bible. The result, regardless of the source, is that we forget God is in control and we are not; we forget to trust God and instead put our trust in ourselves.
I was reminded this week of what the Bible has to say about fear. We are told in 2 Timothy 1:7 that we have not received a spirit of fear from God, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline. We are told to trust in God with all our heart and not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). We are told to fear the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13). That type of fear looks much different than the fear that has enveloped and paralyzed us as we wait for the next disaster to strike. If fearing the Lord means we hate evil, then the result should be a burden to stand against the evil that is consuming the world around us.
Tiffany and I have been fighting our own internal battles with this thing called fear. It is a fear of the unknown as we gear up for the next term overseas with a child in an economic climate that ratchets up the risk we are taking in once again abandoning the “security” of our homeland, family, friends and jobs for the opportunity to live out our faith, to fight evil as it manifests itself in poverty and injustice across the globe. There are limits to what we can prepare for in all our preparations. At some point we must acknowledge our inability to know what lies ahead and trust it is in God’s hands. Expectations deter us from fully experiencing what God has in store. Trials are also a tool orchestrated by God’s hand to mature and grow us in our faith. We must be taken to that place where we acknowledge there is no other explanation for the result except God’s blessing and control of events both in our personal lives and the larger events happening around them. We must learn not to fear.
Take a moment and ask what form of fear has grasped you recently. Is it a story you heard in the media? Is it news of pending layoffs at your company? Is it fear of a dwindling bank account or unpaid mortgage? Is it fear that your faith is faltering in uncertain times? Whatever it may be, I encourage you to take hold of that fear and hand it over to God. His grace has already rescued our souls and defeated death on the cross. What can we possibly fear in light of knowing that eternity awaits and this life is but a blink of an eye? What can compare to the glory and majesty that awaits those who put their trust in Him. Let the knowledge of what has already been accomplished comfort you in those moments when fear knocks at your door.
