Fear
By David B. Crabtree
Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Forget it. Fear has outgrown
the old nursery rhyme to dominate the world scene.
Aldous Huxley wrote an essay, "Wanted, a new pleasure," and suggested
that most of our problems would go away if someone could invent a drug
that abolished inferiority, enhanced fellowship and affection, and imparted
peace.
We search for a bodily cure to a spiritual malady.
Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
My generation is not buying a word of it. Tragedy, war and pestilence
stalk the earth; doubt, cynicism and rancor seize the airwaves; calamity,
atrocity and vulgarity are delivered nightly into our blue-lighted family
rooms. Shock value means ratings, and the down-home newscast of yesteryear
has now become our own private horror show.
Market Crash! Environmental Disaster! Power Brownout! Moral Blackout!
Social Insecurity! Financial Insolvency! Political Extremism! Educational
Meltdown! High School Shooters! Global Warming! Nuclear Threats! Melting
Ice Caps! Recession! Inflation! Ebola! Cloning! Cancer! Flood! Toxins!
The motto of the age might read, "Be afraid — be very afraid."
We are living like a patient in ICU who notices that the respirator
plug is about to fall out of its socket.
Bobby is 7 and afraid of the dark. Susan is 30 and afraid for her kids.
Jim is 48 and afraid that life has passed him by. Tom is 36 and afraid
of failure. Mary is 17 and afraid of getting pregnant. Sarah is 53 and
afraid of being alone. Tommy is institutionalized … he’s afraid
of everything. Cary is 42 and afraid of losing his investment. Henry
is 84 and afraid he won’t be able to afford his prescriptions.
Ashley is 8 and afraid of dogs, snakes and spiders. Ellen is 46 and
afraid that the lump is malignant. Gary is 32 and afraid of success.
Where is the Christian in the age of fear? Too often he or she is trembling
with the masses. Why? We know that love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).
We have been given a legacy of peace (John 14:27). God’s peace
guards our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7). The Psalmist leads us
to the secret place (Psalm 91). Our faith does not bow to the world,
but overcomes the world (1 John 5:4). Through Isaiah, God gives a basis
for casting down fear: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you" (Isaiah 43:1,
NIV). From Genesis to Revelation, we are encouraged toward boldness,
confidence, courage and triumph.
There is a massive "disconnect" here between God’s written will
and God’s worried people.
To rise above fears, we
must raise our sights.
Attention that should be lavished on the Lord is wasted on our fears.
This world is a scary place for those who walk alone, but we are never
alone — or have we forgotten? Paul’s prescription for good
mental health involved "set[ting] your mind" — like setting a radio
dial — on things above (Colossians 3:2). He even laid out appropriate
mental pathways for the believer (Philippians 4:8). The power of fear
in the life of the Christian is inversely proportionate to the power
of the Holy Spirit within.
To rise above fears, we
must be renewed in the inner life.
Like a diving submarine, an inner pressure must meet the pressure from
the outside, lest we be crushed. Paul appealed to the Ephesians to be
strengthened in the inner man (Ephesians 3:16). Fear increases its pressure
with every new crisis or threat. Have we forgotten that "He who is in
you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4, NKJV)? Paul
faced staggering fears and pressures, yet he wrote: "We are hard pressed
on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians
4:8,9). How could Paul stand when so many had fallen? He was made strong
in the inner man.
To rise above fears, we
must press in close to God.
As a young boy I enjoyed annual fishing trips with my father into the
vast Canadian north lakes. We were joined by friends, making a party
of six or eight on our adventures. On the last of those trips, we were
crossing a massive lake when a sudden storm caught us in the middle.
I was riding in the bow of a small boat. My father was in the larger
craft. Our situation became critical within minutes. We turned our boat
to the closest shore and battled and bailed. I wanted to be with my
dad … I just knew if I could be with him, I would be OK.
When fears rise up like an icy tempest, we all need to be with our
Father. Safety, comfort, courage and peace are only found in the Father’s
embrace.
To rise above fears, we
must rest in God’s promises.
Should the markets crash, have we not a promise from God that He will
supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19)? Should the environment lay
battered, is this not our Father’s world? Should disease roar in
fury, is our Lord not also our Healer? For every phobia, God gives a
promise. For every trauma, He holds a triumph. In days of terror, we
have a Savior who will not let us fail or fall if we will only trust
His Word.
In darkness, He is Light. In trouble, He is our Helper. In weeping,
He is joy. In confusion, He is certainty. In suffering, He is hope.
In poverty, He is our very great reward. In weariness, He is strength.
In terror, He is our strong tower. In crisis, He is unshakable. In silence,
He is a still small voice. And in fear, He is courage. The power we
need to stare down fear is not to be found in us, but in Him.
Most things we fear never come to pass. Our worries are wasted, and
our strength is sapped by the phantoms and illusions of an undisciplined
mind, a restless soul, a wandering heart. We would do well to learn
as the Psalmist did: "God is our refuge and strength, A very present
help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea" (Psalm
46:1,2).
David B. Crabtree is pastor of Calvary Assembly
of God in Greensboro, N.C.
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