FEAR

On March 4,1933 the United States was in the throes on the Great Depression. The American people were suffering untold hardships. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address, gave an iconic speech to assuage the fears of a hurting, starving population. In this address he made this bold assertion that “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” It has become an iconic point in American history that has resounded throughout the generations since that time. He referred to fear as a “nameless, unreasoning and unjustified terror.” His message was intended to restore hope to the lives of so many who were destitute and desperate.

We are no longer in a Great Depression, but we are in a great cultural, moral, technological and spiritual revolution that is causing the hearts of people to brace for what’s coming next. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 21:26; “men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth….”

Fear is an insidious and pernicious tool of the enemy of our souls with an insatiable appetite to devour our  faith, our hope, our joy, our peace. Fear has that way of consuming things. It redirects our focus, it swallows our motivation, then it clouds our vision. From there we move with such caution that it keeps us from fulfilling our purpose and bogs us down into a grey, lifeless world of ineffectiveness.

Because of this, fear has moved us from a place of hope, to a place of uncertainty, to a place of worry, to a place of upheaval. 

Our fears now even have names. They have become phobias to make them more palatable, tolerable, or maybe even acceptable.

We read the headlines, we hear the news casts, we consume the conspiracy theories, we gorge on pod casts.  All the while, more and more monsters are being formed in the dark shadows of this uncertainty. Fear uses lies and deceit as it’s partners. They work together to convince you that it is all falling apart. 

You see, fear is the master of “what if.” Fear has a way of taking tomorrow’s problems and making them live today. 

What if I lose my job?

What if my health fails?

What if the one I love leaves me?

What if the world turns into chaos?

Living in tomorrow will always have its “what if” moments.

Fear lives in the darkness because it cannot stand up to the light. Remember as a child lying in your bed in a dark room? There were so many shadowy figures waiting in the darkness that suddenly disappeared when you turned the light on. Those things that appear to be monsters in the shadows, melt away when the light reveals them for what they really are. They disappear like the morning fog when the sun makes its appearance. You see those shadowy uncertainties cannot stand up to the light of God’s presence, the light of His truth, the light of His word, the light of a worshiping heart.

II Timothy 1:7

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Fear says, “You are alone”;

God says, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Fear says, “You can’t handle this.”

God says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Fear says, “There’s no hope.”

Faith says, “God is still on His throne.”

Does that mean that we will never be afraid? Of course not. The disciples were afraid when the storm threatened their little boat on the Sea of Galilee.  It’s not that faith always eliminates our fear, but that it teaches us where to take our fear. They frantically awakened Jesus who was asleep on the boat. “Master, don’t you care that we’re about to perish?” 

Jesus simply stood up in the middle of the boat and said three simple words, “Peace, be still.” And suddenly the storm was gone, their reason for fear was gone. Their fear was replaced by an awesome reverence for the One who, by simply speaking, destroyed the shadowy monster that fueled such fear. 

How many times have we asked the same questions? 

“Lord, don’t you see what’s going on here?”

“Lord, don’t you care?

“Lord, don’t you know I’m afraid?

We all have those moments when we need to hear those same three words, “Peace, be still.” When the noisy, clamoring voices around us are inciting us to be afraid, hear those words,….peace, be still. When the world around us is filled with cries of uncertainty and calamity, know that Jesus is still in the boat, and still in charge as He says, “Peace, be still.” Sometimes God calms the storm around us. Sometimes He calms the storm within us even with the wind still blowing.

There will always be something to fear. Another headline. Another diagnosis. Another uncertainty.  But there will also always be God. And God is bigger than anything that would make us fearful.

The words of Psalm 23 say this:

“Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me….”

Yes, we sometimes walk through dark places.

Yes, there are things lurking in the shadows.

Yes, there are plenty of things that would call on us to be afraid.

But God is never far off.

He knows your name. 

He knows your circumstance.

He sees your fearfulness.

But whatever tomorrow holds, His grace will already be there waiting for you.

“But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.”

Psalms 56:3