Fear No Fear

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

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.
Matthew 24:6-8 (emphasis added)

It is so easy to get worked up about war. Let me be clear: I am not talking about war happening to you and I am also not talking about social wars (like the often featured ‘War on Christmas’ or the much less championed ‘War on Homelessness’). I am talking about real war happening in real places and causing the deaths of real people. We’ve all seen images and read news stories about them. They are very popular as part of the entertainment world (docudramas and ‘true tales of’ and such). There are dozens upon dozens of books (fiction and non) about almost every historical battle, not even whole wars. And despite the lessons we as a species are supposed to learn from them, there has rarely been a fortnight that has gone by without me hearing about one that is still ongoing, or starting up.

Jesus tells us not to let ourselves be troubled. “See that you aren’t” means that we have a choice about what we emotionally experience. But, you say, the plight of those people! The ones who have lost homes, loved ones, and all their possessions. Starving people. Dislocated people (forced migrants). They’re scared, confused, out of their element, and lost. So very lost. How can I NOT be troubled when I see them on the news every day? Well, the news loves to feature stories about them for two reasons. One, they get people watching and reading the news. Two, they pull on our heart strings. The second thing can be good. It can get us to give alms. To donate money and items. To help out. To reach out and let our fellow humans know they are not alone. That they will be cared for. That the future isn’t all bleakness and sorrow.

The first thing? That’s the hook that will get your ‘feelings’ rising. Most people aren’t consuming news media because they want to know about the victims of war. Most people are drawn to watch the news about war because of fear. Fear intentionally inserted to make things sound worse than they are as well as fears that we’ve picked up on our own. What’s going to happen? Are we next? Should we restock the bomb shelter? Is there any hope of survival? Quick, buy all the toilet paper you can get your hands on. Forget the beans. I’m not getting into a shelter with you and beans!

This is the kind of thing that Jesus warned against. Don’t pick up fear. Don’t pick up anxiety. Don’t borrow trouble that isn’t yours. This is not saying, ‘That’s over there. It will never happen here.’ That is foolish talk. But why are you fearful, panic buying, and generally getting so stressed and anxious that you are having trouble sleeping? I cannot tell you the number of people I see and interact with on social media who are stressed and losing what peace exists in their lives over wars happening a continent (or more) away. Yes, we should be cognisant of world events. Why not? Being informed isn’t bad. But when it consumes your peace, mentally walk away. Don’t stick your head in the sand, stick it in the Word!

We are commanded to take care of the poor among us (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 15:11; Luke 14:13-14; 2 Corinthians 9:9; Galatians 2:10). This would include the war torn. Jesus had a heart for the hurting (emotional and physical, not just spiritual). We are to be imitators of Jesus (Ephesians 5:1-2). If we leave the poor or needy in poverty, we will answer for it (Matthew 25:45-46). These aren’t idle words and cute parables. These are direct commands and codes of conduct. This is how we should automatically be. We were saved by Grace, through Faith. But what good is faith if it doesn’t touch our heart? If it doesn’t create new fruit or action within us. You can do all the good in the world and still choose to go to Hell because you refuse to believe in Jesus. But you cannot believe in Jesus and not do good works. Doing good in this world is a defining proof that your salvation was real and your belief true. What does James say? “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). Your doing good for those around you is the justification, your mark if you will, that you have indeed stepped into the righteousness of Jesus. Because Jesus did good works and if we are striving to abide in Him we won’t be able to help doing them too.

We can have compassion, have concern, and seek to do the best for us, those around us, and those around the world as far as we are able; and STILL not take on the fear of it. Worry is useless. It does nothing. It means you are scared of something. But in Jesus we have all the victory we can ever need. In every area of life. So why worry? We don’t have to like every situation that comes up. There are a dozen things a day I don’t like. But I choose to say, ‘Jesus has this. My God provides. My God sustains. My God has me.’ It isn’t always easy. I frequently repent of saying ‘I’m worried about’ or ‘The thing that worries me’ or something like that. I have to choose to say, no. Wrong words. I repent of that. I will NOT worry. I don’t like it and I don’t want this to be, but MY God has this. Then I thank the Lord for having me. For having the situation. I praise Him for it. If I am concerned, I take the concern to Him and leave it there. Sometimes with a lot of reminders to myself that I HAVE left it there. It is a simple thing that is hard to do. It gets easier with practice. And we get a lot of practice because until you start actively thinking about the words coming out of your mouth and programming your atmosphere, you don’t realise how much of what we say isn’t idle conversation but negative seeds.

We don’t say ‘I always get sick’. We say to the Lord, ‘thank you for my health. I don’t want to participate in flu season. I give that whole season to you, Lord.’ We don’t say ‘I always cut myself when I’m preparing big meals.’ We say to the Lord, ‘thank you that you watch over me. Thank you for keeping me safe in all things. Help me as I chop, slice, and dice.’ We don’t speak negative over ourselves or those around us. We don’t look at the TV news or internet news and complain about the politicians, mock our leaders, and say ‘this is going to be bad.’ We take the concerns that come up and we give them to the Lord, cooperate with Him (don’t resist), request that He send His angels to minister to those involved, and praise Him that He has the situation in hand. We seek to build up and help, not to tear down and complain. Our words are seeds. We need to be full of intent when we speak. We need to plant the right crop. Remember that ‘keep silent for a few seconds before you respond’ thing? The ‘count to ten’ thing? Try taking those few seconds and giving things to the Lord. Or praying that Holy Spirit will give you the words to say? It will change your atmosphere. Slowly but completely. We can choose not to be negative. We can choose to act for the positive as we are led by the Lord. We can choose NOT to worry.

This is what we are to do. Make a difference, not worry about ‘what about me?’ God will take care of us. If we are abiding in Him, He’ll tell us what to do and where to go. We may find ourselves in the storm of war. But we can still be resting in the boat of salvation, not being tossed about on the face of the earth. Jesus is Lord of Life, not the Lord of things going well. He can meet all your needs no matter where you find yourself. Let Him meet your needs, and abide in His peace. Take care of those who have needs, but also take care not to take fear onto your shoulders. God is a God of peace and guess what? He will quickly crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20). Abide in Him. He won’t let you down.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

Jesus had a goal. For me, for you, for all of us. He wanted to establish our hearts blameless in holiness before His Father. That is what had been thrown away by Adam. Blameless in holiness before God. Without Jesus, it is impossible to achieve. We can’t even achieve blamelessness in holiness before our fellow humans. This one thinks A is the moral path. That one thinks ‘F’ is the moral path. And that one over there swears by ‘G’. Thank the Lord Almighty that He is merciful. Jesus came to bring us into Himself and establish us. All we need to do is believe, receive, and walk in it. Abiding in Him, anchored in the Word. Daily talking with God. And listening always. Jesus will achieve His goal, if you let Him.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.