Fear

What command appears in the Bible more than any other command?

‘Don’t be afraid’, ‘Fear not’.

N.T. Wright talks about this commandment in his book Following Jesus:

“This surprising command bursts in upon a world in which we eat, sleep, and breathe fear.  We emerge from the warmth of the womb into the cold of the cosmos, and we’re afraid of being alone, of being unloved, of being abandoned.  We mix with other children, other teenagers, other young adults, and we’re afraid of looking stupid, of being left behind in some race that we all seem to be automatically entered for.  We contemplate jobs, and we’re afraid both that we mightn’t get the one we really want and that if we get it we mightn’t be able to do it properly; and that double fear lasts for many people all through their lives.  We contemplate marriage, and we’re afraid both that we might never find the right person and that if we do marry it may turn out to be a disaster.  We consider a career move, and are afraid both of stepping off the ladder and of missing the golden opportunity.  We look ahead to retirement, and are afraid both of growing older and more feeble and of dying suddenly.”

He goes on to say:

“We don’t like fear, but it’s the air we breathe.”

Fear is what holds us back from our potential.  When we want to strive for something but we are afraid of failing, afraid of leaving the security of what we know. 

We are afraid that in the end we will be left with nothing.

Fear strangulates our voice.  Like kids in the school yard watching a bully pick on another kid.  But we just watch.  We are too afraid the bully will turn on us and we will be the object of his wrath.

Fear stops us from standing up for people, from loving others as we should, from walking in the path God has for us and it prevents us from fully experiencing our relationship with Christ.

Growing up I was diagnosed with having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD.  Mine wasn't the kind where you are endlessly washing your hands because you feel like there are germs everywhere. But mine was more a bunch of arbitrary rituals governed by this forever present, nagging thought that if I didn't do the rituals my life would actually fall apart.  Like if I didn't put my shoes in a certain place at home that it would somehow cause someone in my family to die.  My life was controlled by fear, and although I don’t really suffer from it anymore I know that I have carried some of that pattern of fear forward with me.  When I read that passage by N.T. Wright, I thought about how many things in my life I was afraid for, my work, my relationships, my marriage, my family, my future….

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18

Perfect love casts out fear.  What is a more perfect example of love than what Jesus did for us on the cross, selfless sacrifice?  Free of anger for those who persecuted him.  He said, “Forgive them Father, they know not what they do”. It’s what love is supposed to be.  There is nothing cheap about it.  And if Jesus was willing to do all that for the sake of our relationship with our Father, then there is no room for doubt of His love. 

Love is the antidote to fear, and when love is perfected it has no fear.  And when we have found that, we need only to learn how to walk in it.

We are the disciples in the boat next to Jesus as he sleeps.  When the storm rolls in and we panic with fear.  We haven’t forgotten that Jesus is with us, but we have forgotten all that He is capable of.

We do not have to be hostage to our fear, but can walk in confidence that His love guides our every step.  We can lay our worries at the feet of our Father, He is in control.  At times we are still trying to steer the ship, because we forget.  

Let’s think of those things that we fear and want to let go of.  And we can then think of how the resurrection has set us free.  We have been saved by love, there is nothing to fear.