This is the first of a 3 part series on fear.
Indeed—“Fear paralyzes. Fear suffocates. Fear debilitates. Fear torments.”[1]
Therefore, for us believers, God commands TWO things about fear. Can you guess what they are?
Well, the first one is easy. ‘FEAR HIM!’
- “Honor all men; love the brotherhood, FEAR God, honor the king.” (1 Pet. 2:17c)
- “You shall FEAR the LORD your God.” (Deut. 10:20a)
And the second one? ‘FEAR NOT!’
God admonishes Israel:
- “DO NOT FEAR, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10).
- “DON’T FEAR ANYTHING except the Lord of the armies of heaven. If you fear Him, you need fear nothing else.” (Isa. 8:13, TLB)
And admonishes US:
- “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and DO NOT BE AFRAID.” (John 14:27, NIV)
- “DO NOT FEAR WHAT THEY FEAR; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” (1 Pet. 3:14-15, NIV)
“Jesus did not speak these words in vain. In Him, there is zero reason for fear. Ever!”[2]
Have you ever wondered why, in the gospel accounts of Matt. 8, Luke 8, & Mark 4, having to do with Jesus’ disciples in their boat during a treacherous storm—Jesus rebukes His disciples?
While Jesus’ disciples were out on that lake:
- Were they fearful because they heard a vicious storm was coming their way? (Often, with us, this is all it takes.)
OR
- Were they fearful because they could see the dangerous, black storm clouds rolling in upon them?
NO!
They were fearful because the storm was upon them; and it was so ‘furious’—the waves were threatening to drown them!
Nonetheless, Jesus comes down very heavy on them for their fear: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”–even though Luke 8[3] tells us: ‘they were in great danger!’ Hello! ‘They were in great danger!’ So why the rebuke?
Well, they deserved His rebuke because Jesus was with them! And therein lies ‘the bottom line.’
Question: are ‘Fear GOD’ and ‘Fear NOT’ the Lord’s SUGGESTIONS? Or are they His COMMANDS?
Indeed, ‘Fear GOD’ and ‘Fear NOT’ are His COMMANDS!
And God commands that we fear not because HE IS WITH US; He is never leaving us; He will never abandon us!
Indeed, He PROMISES us this in Heb. 13:5: “I will never, never fail you nor forsake you.” (TLB)
Therefore, we have no permission from God—to worry or to fear—even if or when—we are in ‘grave danger.’ Please do not miss this point!
Would you be blessed, if you were God, and your subjects act like you don’t exist? In other words, God is not happy or blessed by us when we act as though we do not have a God; in particular—a God like Him!
One further point in the gospel accounts of this event (Matt. 8, Luke 8, & Mark 4) – in all three accounts, Jesus mentions their going to the other side of the lake. If this was His plan, then this was going to take place.
Dr. Michael Wells has written: “Fear is the result of being self-centered, not God-centered. It has been called the measure of the distance between man and God.”[4]
ACTION POINT: In the meantime—my challenge to you, dear reader—is to ask yourself if you insult God with your fears. Is He your God, or not? Is He always with you, or not? Does He care about you, or not? Is He always able to protect you, or not—especially when you ask Him to?
Please don’t be one who slaps God in the face with your unbelief, by living your life full of fear!
I have two subsequent blogs on this issue of fear.
In the meantime, I’d also like to ask: How has the Lord worked in your life to help you overcome fear? (Please share comments below)
Footnotes:
[1] Michael L. Brown, Jezebel’s War with America (p. 161). Charisma House. Kindle Edition
[2] Ibid.
[3] NIV