The wicked is a coward, and is afraid of everything; of God, because he is his enemy; of Satan, because he is his tormentor; of God’s creatures, because they, joining with their Maker, fight against him; of himself, because he bears about with him his own accuser and executioner. The godly man contrarily is afraid of nothing; not of God, because he knows him as his best friend, and will not hurt him; not of Satan, because he cannot hurt him; not of afflictions, because he knows they come from a loving God, and end in his good; not of the creatures, since “the very stones in the field are in the league with him”; not of himself, since his conscience is at peace.
~ Joseph Hall (1574-1656)
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.
With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
~2 Chronicles 32:7-8
Beloved, fear IS an option. It is just an exceedingly bad one.
But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations, and as for murderers and the lewd and adulterous and the practicers of magic arts and the idolaters (those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God) and all liars (those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed)–[all of these shall have] their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.
~ Revelation 21:8 (Amplified)
~ Revelation 21:8 (Amplified)
Fear is, quite simply, the absence of faith. And without faith, it is impossible to please God. To this end, the Amplified version gives us a clear picture of what awaits those who choose to live in fear. It is an exceedingly bad end. We do not even want to think of going there.
Instead, hundreds of times throughout Scripture, G_d gives us a clear declaration of His purpose for our lives. We are to live absent of fear. We are to so trust Him in all circumstances that fear becomes only a ridiculous option.
Surely, the fear of which we speak is not the deep and awestruck respect we have for the One we serve. Fear this One, this way. But, even here, He tells us to not be afraid of Him. He Loves us better than the very best of earthly fathers, and pities us for the dust that we are. He is fearsome, but He is not capricious.
Oh friends! We give lip-service to the idea that we should not live in fear. But, how often do we hedge our bets, and reserve a little bit to ourselves? Can we not see that G_d sees fear in us the same way that He sees drunkenness or sexual immorality? These things are but perversions of the purpose and design for our lives. They are a waste. They crash up against the purpose for our existence (that being to glorify Him, and enjoy Him forever.)
It is condescending, this letting go of fear. For letting go of fear means surrendering control of our lives to Him. It means trusting that He will NOT, like Lucy with Charlie Brown, yank the football away when we go to kick the ball.
May i speak plainly, though, to those who hold onto fear? The ground on the other side of the surrender of fear is even more solid than you could imagine. The air is clear. The sun is bright. And the shadows it casts are clearly delineated markers that only prove the truth of its light.
Tonight is the night friend. Let go.
God’s never missed the runway through all the centuries of fearful fog.
~Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
