Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

Behold, I am toward God even as you are. I am also formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror will not make you afraid, neither will my pressure be heavy on you.
Job 39:6 (emphasis added)

How Not to Parent 101: Dump it in a pile, but not to care for what you dump as individuals. This is what the ostrich does – the animal referenced here. Communal egg nest. Yes, sat on for incubation, but a large percentage of eggs don’t make it. It doesn’t have to be that way, but it is. And is this not what life in the world is like? A communal pile and most of us don’t make it. Mental health disorders, diseases, suicides, murders, strife, drugs, and more. It gets bad. And every year seems to get worse. It’s full of fear. Fear of hurt. Which makes us feel vulnerable. When we feel vulnerable, we put on emotional armour to protect ourselves. The more we feel hurt, the more we feel vulnerable, the more armour we put on to avoid feeling vulnerable or to feel hurt, and the cycle continues.

There are those that see vulnerability as a positive. That fear is what is driving us to put on emotional armour and vulnerability is what helps us avoid that. By being vulnerable, we are choosing to put ourselves where we could be hurt but are willing to put ourselves out there, listen, process, and build trust with each other. Developing the courage to move forward and change and grow by using vulnerability as a strength.

I disagree with that. Life isn’t an arena where we get injured (though injury can happen). It isn’t a jungle where we battle for the right to grow up and gather sunlight (although competition can be vicious). We don’t need vulnerability – which is being capable of being physically or emotionally wounded. Being open to attack or damage. The state of being vulnerable. Someone who is vulnerable is weak and without protection, with the result that they are easily hurt physically or emotionally. These are all negative things because they are all fear-based. What we need is empathy and humbleness.

Empathy is the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner. Empathy means no guilt, no blame, no hurt, and no pain; hence no need for vulnerability. In fact, if you are feeling vulnerable you need to be dealt with by use of empathy. Vulnerability is a condition and empathy is an action. Vulnerability is fear-based. Empathy is love-based.

God is love. He does empathy like no one else ever has. Became fully human to first-hand experience everything and then died in our place to make sure that we never needed to experience the punishment that we deserved. Jesus did it all. And He did it because He loves us. And then He sent His Spirit to guide us along as we grow together toward Him. Instead of choosing to learn to be vulnerable, choose to learn to love.

Love is a choice. It is not an emotion, though it can be emotional. You can love with your mind and with your heart. You can choose it like you choose your pants. But it is so much more than a choice. It’s a lifestyle where love becomes the language of your thoughts, words, and deeds. Jesus lived love. Totally. As we work to be His disciples, we can’t help but love. And to walk in love. And nurture in love. And work and play and talk in love. Love is saying to all you meet: you have worth. NOT because of performance. NOT because of what they are or are not doing. They have worth because they have worth. You love them because you love them. Period.

Don’t we need more of that? Don’t we need to nurture and care for everyone around us? We can’t do it alone. We can’t do it without God. Humans are in our own nature selfish, even if we are generous at times. We NEED Jesus’ nature. We NEED His Grace, Mercy, Faith, Love, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, and Self-Control. We NEED His Spirit to inhabit us and guide us and teach us. You know what courage is? It’s obedience in spite of common sense. Common sense is human sense. Based on what we see/hear/know/think. We need to be obedient to God. It takes courage to love. Courage we gain ONLY by obedience to God because we know that God’s instructions are the best possible thing on an eternal scale. It doesn’t matter what happens during life. Not really. It’s a moment. What matters is what happens in eternity. It takes courage to love. And love saves. Because without love there would be no cross. Without the cross there would be no resurrected redeemer. Without Jesus, there would be no life.

Humbleness is walking in that love. “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Moses was loud. He was brash. He lead EVERYONE in the nation of Israel. He proclaimed the words of the Lord. He was almost larger than life. But he was HUMBLE. He didn’t put himself first. He wasn’t selfish. He wasn’t cruel. He wasn’t vulnerable. He was HUMBLE. Jesus was HUMBLE. He didn’t put Himself forward. He ALWAYS pointed us toward His Father. ALWAYS. He avoided situations where people tried to lift Him up in THIS life. He didn’t want that. He wanted His FATHER to be glorified. He was HUMBLE and saw the work of the Father AS the work of the Father, not as something HE did. We should be the same.

“Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do” (Colossians 3:12). When we walk this way, we won’t be hurting others but building them up. We won’t be putting ourselves forward, but making sure the whole team gets credit. We won’t say our idea is always best, but will go with the best idea. We won’t be wounding others, we’ll be defending them. All those things that they say cause or are the benefit of vulnerability will be put away. Because we will actively making each other individually and as a group the best we can possibly be with the best opportunities and blessings.

Humble people are the foundation of every decent human organisation. They aren’t doormats, they are servants. They are aware of their worth. They are also aware of the worth of those around them. “with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love,” (Ephesians 4:2). “doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). This is how we walk in love. This is how we love our neighbours as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). This is how we are humble. This is how we build each other up. This is how we combat vulnerability – by removing the cause and reason for it. Our walk of love removes the pressure to be vulnerable.

We need that more than anything. Be courageous. Be obedient. Choose to love today.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Revelation 22

Jesus is coming soon. He is the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the Ending. In Him there is life. He is the first and the last. He gave His life for us. So that we can have life. Now and eternally. So we can enjoy the fruit of the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. We will see the Father’s face. The Lord God will be our light. God loves us SO MUCH and He wants us there. That was why He came in the first place. Not to condemn but to rescue (John 3:17). Not to beat us over the head, but to hold out a hand. We don’t have to be a slave to sin. To our bad attitude. To our judgment or disgust with other people or their lifestyles. To our desperate need to have the security of this life in this life. To our slaving away at a job all the time for the dream of a retirement. He was us to work for the Father in ALL we do. Rely on the Father for ALL our needs. Worship the Father with ALL our lives. To be ALL we can in this life AND in the next. To be ready for when that will happen. He wants us there with Him and He is coming soon!

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.