I’ll never forget where I was when the terrorists’ planes hit the famous Twin Towers of New York City. That was the famous event of ‘9/11’—which, like the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, ‘is written in infamy’ in American hearts! (I’m sure many of you remember that day very vividly also.)
It was nighttime on that day, over here on the Island of Borneo. We had just returned from a home cell group.
For several days after that, the news channels in our area were broadcasting the chants from certain parts of our hemisphere: “KILL AMERICANS, KILL AMERICANS!” To my knowledge, I was the lone American—with somewhat high visibility—in our town of maybe 350,000; one-half of which were Muslim—the group that seemingly wanted to ‘do in’ the likes of me! (In all fairness—a very small percentage.)
But for me—‘fall-out’ from the above was an overriding sense of apprehension and dread. My mind was pretty much ‘mush.’ I was wondering when I would open our front door, and be executed by a bullet. I was in a quandary over how safe it was for me—a lone, elderly woman, to be driving thru a remote Muslim village—bound for teaching my class.
So, for approximately 3 1/2 days I was in a daze; I couldn’t focus at all. It was then the Lord reminded me of Hebrews 10:38, which states “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”[1] The Lord paraphrased this: “Nancy, I take no pleasure in those who shrink back! I take no pleasure in those who shrink back!”
Wow! That did it for me. That absolutely settled my fears once and for all. This was God reminding me He was going to ‘have my back!’ The clear message was (as referred to in my previous blog): “Do not insult Me, Nancy! Do not slap Me in the face with your unbelief!”
Since then, I haven’t had a single fear of attack.
Some wonder where I get my ‘grit’ to venture into our infamous dumpsite to minister to the 3,000 undocumented folks who literally survive by eating the garbage. No, I do not fear—though 50 % of them (the Suluks) are infamous for ‘slitting your throat for a dollar.’
I’m not afraid because the Lord has asked me to go. And if I shrink back like a coward–like I don’t have HIM as my GOD—I do Him such dishonor, I should be ashamed of myself! Amen?
Let’s consider 1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (NIV)
Or,
“There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.” (MSG)
Not only does fear reveal unbelief, but also a reckless disregard (and ingratitude) for all the protection He gives us ‘24/7,’ as if that counts for nothing!
Actually, there is still more to this story on my deliverance from the ‘fear of man.’ I will be sharing that in my next blog—FEAR NOT! (Part 3).
On the other hand, as Reverend B. Manning writes: “The splendor of a human heart which trusts that it is LOVED—gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the sight of ten thousand butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom.”[2]
So we have to ask ourselves, ‘Which do we want?’—to give God pleasure by our unwavering trust in Him, or exasperate Him by being a coward? Share in comments section below.
[1] NIV
[2] Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2000), 2.