A long time ago I heard a pastor share an interesting biblical fact about fear: God's commandment for us to "fear not" is second only to "praise Him" in how often it is repeated throughout scripture. God knew what nervous ninnies we were going to be and has tried to calm us down ever since. From Genesis to Revelation He has implored us to remain calm..."fear not, for I am with you" (Gen. 26:24), "do not worry" (Mt. 6:25), "do not let your hearts be troubled" (Jn. 14:1), "be anxious for nothing" (Phil. 4:6), "cast all your cares on Him" (1 Pet. 5:17), "do not be afraid" (Rev. 2:10)... these words and hundreds of others like them are found throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament those tiresome Israelites had no sooner witnessed fresh water gush out of a rock and food fall from the sky than they were back to their moaning and groaning, worried once again that God was going to let them die of hunger and thirst in the desert. We're no different. Regardless of how many times God has faithfully delivered us from our fears and difficulties, we always find something to be fearful about.
I googled phobia and literally hundreds of different phobias came up. We even have a phobia about having phobias...phobophobic. I personally am deathly afraid of mice. I know how ridiculously irrational this is. I know they're equally terrified of me and try their best to escape me with their horrifyingly speedy maneuvers. Apparently I didn't start out being afraid of them. When I was six years old I managed to catch one with my bare hands (the hair on the back of my neck is standing up just thinking about it). I was proud of my hunting prowess and carried it into the house to show my mom. When she realized I actually had a live mouse in my hands it filled her with such abject terror that she started screaming. She scared me so bad that I started screaming right along with her. What had possessed me to catch this wicked little creature that had the power to reduce my mom to this disturbed, screaming barbarian that was threatening to kill me (kill me!) if I dropped it in the house? Evidently, I took her death threat seriously because I managed to keep it in my hands (running and screaming the whole time) until I could throw it outside and quickly slam the door shut behind me. I ran back to my mom and we held each other and cried until it all just seemed like a bad dream.
Fear mongering is big business. There are people at work that think if they look sideways at the wrong person they'll be fired. Everyone is out to get someone and nothing can be taken at face value. Fear is a powerful tool that is routinely used to make us buy things, say things, do things and accept things that we never would otherwise. No wonder God deemed it necessary to tell us hundreds of times and in hundreds of ways to "fear not".
Our government has trotted out their own two words meant to comfort: federal bailout. They are employing their own horrifyingly speedy maneuvers to spend all the money they can beg, borrow, steal or print and frankly, it is all getting kind of...scary.
"But God is still on His throne,
And He will remember His own;
Tho' trials may press us and burdens distress us,
He will never leave us alone..."
3 comments:
I read a quote recently, I think it was Oswald Sanders, but I cannot seem to locate the book (I read it in the last ten days so my inability to find it is yet another indication of just how disorganized I am!). He said, as pain indicates the need for healing, worry indicates the need for praying. This country would do well to spend a lot more time praying than worrying, and this is very true on a personal level as well.
You are very right to observe the consistent "fear not" thread, but there is one element of fear that is promoted throughout the Bible and that is the fear of God. Proverbs reminds us that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." It is telling how the Founding Fathers, with their reverence for the Almighty, were given such wisdom to organize this great country. Fear of God is no longer PC, yet without we are hopelessly navigating a sea of nonsense.
Kristie,
I don't know, but I can't imagine the Hebrew word for "fear" used in "the fear of the Lord" is the same Hebrew word used in "fear not, for I am with you".
The awe and reverence has definitely gone by the wayside...how tragic.
Fear about being PC has put the kabash to all kinds of REASONABLE discussions...very sad.
Kristie,
I realized my questioning the Hebrew word for "fear" was kind of a "well, DUH!" moment for me. It would be interesting to ask Lon what the difference was. I've heard before that there isn't a word in the English language that can completely encompass the full meaning of the Hebrew or Greek for "peace"...it's probably the same for "fear". Tammy was saying the without the proper "fear of God" we can't really experience what it means to "fear not". I thought that was a good point!
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