Fear: The Emotion that will Fix You in a Fleshly Fog (Part Three)
The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. -Proverbs 29:25 (KJV)
Can you recall the first time that you were afraid of someone? Perhaps it was a parent, sibling or relative; a neighborhood or schoolyard bully; a stranger or a maybe even a fictional character from a horror or sci-fy movie on television.
I would venture to say that for too many of us our bouts with fear from our childhood are too many to recall. However, the tentacles of timidity from both yesterday and today taunt us and touch us in ways that cripple our development and diminish the joy, hope and influence of the Lord in our lives. Consequently, we erect fear as the illegitimate and unauthorized lord who rewards us with a life sentence of restlessness and immobilization. Fear will impede discovery, development and a desire to dream and dare to be all that God has called us to be. Fear is a fight that no one can avoid. It touches all of us. There are none who are exempt from its encroachment in our hearts and minds. Even David, the giant-killer and the fugitive who was pursed by King Saul for four years, experienced fear. However, he did not park in fear and he gives us his antidote to the venom of fear in the scriptures.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. - Psalm 21:1-5 (KJV)
This sounds like a man that put fear to flight! He was not fixed in the FOG (Fear Obscures God)!
Another thing about fear is that it does not have respect of persons. Fear entered our reality some six to ten thousand years ago in a garden called Eden.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, “Where art thou?” And he said, “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”- Genesis 3:8-10 (KJV)
The Word of God reminds us that this kind of a fear is not condoned and we should not accept it.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. - 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
For example the “spirit of fear” mentioned in 2 Timothy 1:7 does not sanction fear but gives us a clear contrast by spelling out the characteristics of Godly fear. Ungodly fear that injures and incarcerates us does not come from God but from the fall. This kind of fear desires to consume and overcome us. To overcome it, we need to trust in God and the love of God completely.
Trusting in the love of God is a lethal and effective weapon to wipe out fear in a convincing way! Fear is knocked down to the ground when our trust in the love of God abounds in our hearts and mind.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18(KJV)
Perfect love is God’s love. Love for God and the love of God can never coexist or be roommates with fear in our hearts! When we trust and embrace this truth, fear is kicked out and evicted!!
I close with a list of consequences for parking in the FOG!!
- It prevents opportunities
- It prevents us from employing God's power
- It prevents us from speaking for the Lord
- It prevents one from coming to Christ as Lord and Savior
- It circumvents closeness with the Lord
- It attacks our acceptance of God
- If not unchecked and addressed, it will lead to eternal separation from God
Thoughts of timidity or anxiousness about what man can do to us will toss you in a trap. Trusting in the Lord makes us trap-proof!
NOT A SERMON BUT A THOUGHT
- PBKSr.