Why Did You Fear
“Why did you fear? Where is your faith?” – “Mark 4:40”
I thought I would try to encourage you as you start a new week with all our (Unknowns – But His Knowns) before us.
We have a Sovereign God – Right? I trust we answer unequivocally yes to that. It’s a reality that God finds it unacceptable when fear is the dominating and determining emotion in our hearts and minds – Why? It shows a distrust in Him, His care, His Ability and His Sovereignty.
The truth is that: – “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” – “2 Timothy 1:7”.
The truth is that there are numerous occasions in the Scriptures when Jesus and the Angels declare – Fear Not or Do not be afraid.
In fact, when the Angels declare it who live constantly in the very presence of God they start their sentences with it. (Let’s reflect upon the fact that we are in a closer relationship than the Angels).
Jesus declares to us: – “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee……” Why? “so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I will not be afraid” – “Hebrews 13:5-6”.
If I say emphatically – The faithful do not live in fear – am I being too bold, presumptuous, arrogant and prideful? In declaring “The faithful do not live in fear” or am I being – Audacious?
Even death should not set us quivering.
Woody Allen once said: – “I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
What does the Child of God declare – “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me” – “Psalm 23:4”. I will not be afraid.
I guess you have guessed by now that I’m saying, “God’s children are not to fear.” Why? Simply put – fear gives too much credibility to our enemy and a not enough to the Saviour Jesus.
If we really believe what Gods Word says the fear in me reveals a failure to trust Him. In addition, the ongoing effect of that rebellion against God, or to say it in a softer way our failure to believe in Him, sentences us to daily living in fear.
We are all different and are supplanted by the enemy in different ways and our backgrounds, environment and situations present a multitude of differing challenges and thus what we are susceptible differs for all of us.
So, we say to ourselves and we meditate on – What do I fear?
- Do I fear everything?
- Do I fear anything?
- Do I fear nothing?
It’s interesting that (nothing can be feared) in “Leviticus 26:36-37” it says – “I will put anxiety in the hearts of those of you who survive in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a wind-driven leaf will put them to flight; and they will flee as one flees from a sword and fall though no one is pursuing them. They will stumble over one another…” The sound of a a single solitary leaf blowing in the wind brings a state of panic.
It’s true that there are certain things to fear – Indolence, Indecisiveness, Independence. We live in a self-indulgent world, it’s selfie obsessed and narcissistic but for us the Children of God fearing indiscriminately is a very costly indulgence. In the same manner when we stimulate fear in others by living fearfully we enter into a bad context of living.
The unfortunate thing is that no one seems to have an unkind word to say about fear these days – it’s a bit like the second coming of Christ – Surely we can see both as eminently un-Christian.
Here’s an interesting example to challenge our thinking today and as we journey on it’s from “Ezra 8:22”.
The context was that Ezra who was the appointed spiritual leader had in the plan of God been given permission from the King Artaxerxes to return to Babylon with the aim of retrieving the vessels plundered from the Temple during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
The value was enormous and the journey very risky because of the bands of bandits they could encounter on the way. In the deliberations of Ezra, the thought occurred to him – “I can ask the King for an armed guard.” Knowing that he would give the guard to him.
It was a very humanly sensible thought to have, it was logical and would have found general acceptance with the other leaders. However, there was a problem and it was the problem of shame derived from the embryo of fear growing in him.
Ezra states “For I was ashamed to request from the king troops and horsemen to protect us from the enemy on the way.” Where did the shame come from? Why should He he be ashamed to ask for protection? His testimony of life had been that God is Powerful, God is Sovereign, God is Responsive, and God is Relational. In the immediate context he had declared up front “…..The hand of our God is favourably disposed to all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who forsake Him.” – “Ezra 8:21b”
So after prayer and fasting they “manned up” and discovered that “the hand of our Lord was over them to defend and protect, and He the Sovereign God who is also our Father delivered them (as He will us) from the hand of the enemy and all the ambushes on the way”.
How do we relate to this today? Like Ezra we have the same choices in our journeys to make. We have to decide, perhaps against all odds if we will live up to the claims we make for our Lord and to live by faith.
“When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” – “Luke 18:8”. In us will He find it vibrant, enticing and active. Or, will He ask us as He did the disciples on the Galilee: “Why did you fear? Where is your faith?” – “Mark 4:40”
My prayer for myself and you are that the Holy Spirit will help us to be strong and act like we believe in that He truly is God.
The wind is blowing and thus the leaves (of circumstances) are always quivering. However – We serve an unstoppable God who is not afraid of impossible odds – so let’s walk together and encourage each other today to walk in courageous not to fear.
“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” – “Ecclesiastes 4:9-10”
