A Little Fear and a Lot of Love

Fear, is good. I have a fear of walking across a busy street into traffic. That's not bad, that's smart. The fear of God is not the fear of a capricious emotional tyrant. The fear of God is that we will put ourselves outside the grace of God by choosing to sin and reaping what we have sown. 

A few months ago I was driving to the funeral of one of my best friends who was also the best man at my wedding. I got a ticket for speeding. My mind was not really on the speed limit, but I knew I was going a little fast. I broke the law and suffered the consequences. Fear of getting a ticket doesn't always stop us from speeding. But, you know when I see kids playing, I don't need a sign that tells me to slow down, I just slow down because I don't want to hurt anyone. 

In the same way the fear of God is more than just the fear of going to hell or being caught or punished. The fear of God is about not wanting to hurt others or God. It's also about knowing he has unfailing love for you. 

Here's the kicker: our hope is not in our goodness or our righteousness, although we seek to live and love righteously. Our hope is in his unfailing love. He died on the cross for our sins and ever lives to intercede for us at the right hand of the Father. He has gone to prepare a place for us. He will come again... that is our hope. He is faithful and he will do it. 

Never Fear, the Lord is Near

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: 
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
   I am your shield,
   your very great reward. ”

Genesis 15:1 NIV

Abram had just fought a battle and refused a reward from the king of Sodom. The LORD assured him with two truths. First, that he was Abram's shield and secondly that he was Abram's reward. The Lord understood Abram's fear. The LORD did chastise him for being afraid. He just assured Abram of his protection and provision. 

As Christians we will fight a lot of battles. Sometimes after a victory we may feel a bit tired and vulnerable. God assures us that he will continue to shield us and he himself will be are very great reward. 

Let's ask a couple of questions. Did God continue to protect Abram? Yes. Did God continue to provide for Abram? Yes. Can we trust God to protect us and provide for us? Yes, yes we can. So, if you've been through a trial or had to make some tough decisions remember that like Abram God will shield you and reward you. 

Got Fear? Get Trust.

When I am afraid, 

   I put my trust in you.

In God, whose word I praise—

   in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

Psalms 56:3-4 NIV

Fear is not abnormal. Fear, can be an honest internal warning sign God has placed within us to help us avoid a potentially disastrous situation. In 1 Samuel 21 David had fled Saul and ended up in Achish, which was a kingdom he had attacked. Your classic out of the frying pan and into the fire deal. So, he acts like a crazy man and they send him on his way, hiding in caves from Saul. 

In the midst of that he sought God, he put his trust in God. He doesn't say he was never afraid. He does not hint that fear is a lack of faith. He just says when he is afraid, he seeks God, puts his trust in God and realizes that man can only do so much to him. What can mere mortals, mere men do to him? 

Do you have fear? That's probably normal. There are a lot of things that can be scary. What's important is that you turn to Christ and trust in him. He loves us enough to come down as a man and die in our place, for our sins. He said he would never leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6). Nothing can take us out of his hand.

God fear? Trust God. He is with you. 

Don't Let Your Fears Stop

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Mark 6:50-52 NIV

I detect a bit of a theme these past few days: Don't let your fears stop you from trusting Christ. 

Sometimes it takes a little courage to step out in faith. It may be admitting you are a Christian in a very hostile environment, like your workplace. It might be a lot of things. You know. The Spirit of God is moving in you or will move in you to show you. 

Remember, when you are out there in the middle of the storm, when Jesus gets in the boat with you, it will all calm down. 

Just Believe

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Mark 5:36 NIV

I get it. I would be afraid to believe. I would worry about getting my hopes up. Think about it. From the moment the bearer of bad news came to him until Jesus took the synagogue ruler and his wife and went into the room with their daughter, everyone around them was telling them it was hopeless, don't expect Jesus to do anything. 

Jesus only told him to not be afraid, only believe. 

I'm going to ask you a question that I want you to take a moment to wait upon the Lord for the answer. What have you been told is dead in your life, that Jesus wants to say, "Arise"?

Fear and Legalism vs Love and Freedom

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1 John 4:16-18 (NIV)

I have worked with two different kind of bosses/leaders. One is the person who leads by fear, the other by calm competency. I am sure you can relate. 

I have worked mostly in construction, restaurants and education. When I think of a "by fear" boss I think of one in particular who may have been, for me, the prototypical tyrant boss. He told me that if I didn't walk around with a pit in my stomach worried that something could go wrong then I didn't care and would not be ready for something that could go wrong. Consequently he would run around yelling at people, making up stuff to be upset about, accusing people of not working hard and generally just trying to make everyone work in a constant state of fear to "keep us on our toes". The real effect was that he was very distracting making people pay attention to a possible problem rather than dealing with the situations at hand. Thus creating more mistakes and problems which he would just yell about. 

The calm, competent people who I have worked with in a moment of crisis calmly identified the issue and resources and dealt with the problem at hand. I have seen this type of leadership deal with a house built one foot too tall, cooks and food servers not showing up at a restaurant (plus various disasters dealing with food), and anything from angry parents who want to deal out justice by themselves to fights and on campus turf wars. Calm and steady leadership always keeps things in perspective and seeks to resolve the issue with the minimum amount of damage. 

As Christians if we live under fear we are not free to love. Often we are afraid of being hurt, or of hurting others. Most of the time people make up rules to not get hurt. That usually ends up being legalism. For example, we fear the damage of alcoholism so we add to the word of God and say, "No alcohol." So, if someone has one drink, they are in sin or disqualified from leadership and condemnation keeps them free from being able to love. To be frank, I have seen a lot of people who didn't drink, dance, smoke or run with those who do (some of you older folks may remember that), cheat on their wives, lie, and do some pretty sinful things. Being afraid doesn't always stop you from being hurt or sinning.   

Loving God and my wife keeps me from being unfaithful more than being afraid of being caught. Love causes me to view everyone with humility and grace. People don't need my attention, they need Christ's love. So if I interact with another women (and as an educator I often do) I deal with her with respect and distance. Because I love my God and my wife I am not going to put myself in a place,  physically or emotionally, that will produce intimacy. I also realize I am an emotional moron. A woman's emotional language is on a graduate school level and I am in elementary school (probably kindergarten). Someone once told me that if a women talks to you about "a problem" and you can't identify  it and start to work on a solution in three minutes, she doesn't have a problem, she just wants to talk to you. 

Love is not afraid to do the right thing, to give of yourself or to allow others to freely enjoy what God has provided for them. Our faith in the love of God in Christ trusts that he is sovereign over our attempts to be like him and love in his Name. Try to love like Christ. 

Father, help us to be like Christ and love with the perfect love that casts out fear. Praise be to you in us today!

Don't Let the World Intimidate You

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

I John 4:4 

First, a few thoughts on the greatness of God...

I know that the Lord is great,
   that our Lord is greater than all gods.
The Lord does whatever pleases him,
   in the heavens and on the earth,
   in the seas and all their depths.
Psalms 135:5-6 (NIV) 
God does what he wants, as he sees fit. Some people think they will call God to account for the evil and injustice in the world. According to the Bible God is the Judge and we will all answer to him. The evil and injustice in the world is the result of mankind's rejection of God and rebellion to his Sovereignty. 

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 
John 10:29 (NIV)
God is greater than all. All what? All everything, all anything. No person, no government, no belief will overpower or out think God. Every knee will bow, even those who impetuously deny and blame him.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
2 Chronicles 32:7-8 (NIV)
Sometimes all we will be able to see is the vastness of those who oppose us and our God. It may, at this time, look like the God haters are winning, but remember that the devil thought he won a great victory when Christ was crucified. But when Christ rose from the dead, conquering both sin and death, God forever revealed that he is greater than sin, it's sting which is death and Satan the accuser.  

  
The time we live in is definitely anti-Christ. One political party wanted to take the name of God of their platform during the last election. That can be intimidating, but greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.

Father, reveal yourself and your greatness to us as we seek to trust in you in this wicked world. May we shine like lights in the darkness! Praise be to you in us today!