“When I am afraid I will trust in You. In God I will praise His Word; in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me. (Psa 56:3-4 MKJV)”
Life is full of harrowing experiences, that truly realized, should paralyze each and every one of us. In an blink of an eye, a friend who is the vision of health is felled by a diagnosis of cancer in their sinus. A loved one that spoke with you just moments before has become a victim of a mindless drunk that careened into their car, killing them instantly. A father, increased in age, goes to make coffee in his modest mobile home one morning with the anticipated arrival of a dear friend, who finds him collasped upon the living room floor, dead from a heart that pumps no more.
We make a lifestyle out of fear; fear for an enivronment that we truly cannot control or fix, fear of war, fear of relationships and the fear of being alone. And, Christians aren’t immune to this state of fear that we are constantly bombarded with through the news, friend’s opinions, and a frank lack of understanding of a God that is far beyond anything our human minds can comprehend.
We use it in unhealthy manner, as an excuse not to love those we feel are truly beyond any reasonable assumption of being loved. Fear of listening to a voice we aren’t sure is God’s because the direction it is telling us to travel is so farfetched and abnormal that we don’t want to go. Fear of being truly in relationship with those who can and do hurt us. Fear of letting go of those who aren’t healthy for us in pursuit of a love we feel we can never be worthy of.
We fear, a natural and sometimes helpful response to the chaotic and deadly environment that surrounds us and that we are dependant on for our very survival.
We fear God, a good thing and a healthy response to such a powerful, mighty, and holy Being.
But in everything that we fear, it is how we react in that fear that tells us and the world around us what we believe to be true, what we want to be true, and what we know is true. We put ourselves into a position where we trust the very thing that we should and often fear the most; a righteous and holy God.
If we truly trust in God and the promises made to us in His holy word, why do we agonize over making a stand for our faith? If we truly trust and fear God, why do we continue to allow the minority rule over the majority? We put up leaders like Clinton and Obama, McCain and Guilliani, and then complain over the choice that seem so dim and limiting instead of speaking out in truth and light and stating our faith-based preferences.
If we truly trust in God, why do we allow ourselves to fear what a religious band of terrorists, indoctrinated by the very religious leaders that claim peaceful intentions? Why do we continue to quiet our voices in response to a misquoted, misrepresented, and misinterpeted word called “tolerance”.
If we truly, as children of God, fear God more than we fear man fail to trust in God to fulfill His promiese to us and speak out? Why do we fear what flesh can do to us more than what God can do to us?
