Fear No Fear

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

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7 (emphasis added)

All is a word that we love when it comes to blessings, money, and things. It is not a word we love when it comes to giving, spending, or sacrifice. We use it to inspire us. Giving our all on the sports field. We use it as a standard of work ethic, giving our all whenever we arrive on the job. Giving 110% was a popular saying from the upper ups when I was in school. But all those things have a result attached to them. If you work hard you will see some successes. If you apply yourself you will enrich yourself. Oftentimes in recreation we push ourselves to achieve and bring home the trophy. We understand it. We celebrate it. We push each other to operate in it. We indoctrinate our children to revere it as well. But when we enter the arena of spiritual things, it becomes just a word. Stereotypically there is no force, will, or meaning to it.

We’re to seek the Lord with all our heart. And we do it every week from 10am to noon on Sunday. Depending on your denomination the day of the week may alter. You might have a night service. You might have a Wednesday service or bible study. You might even have a short daily session where you can go in the morning and receive a blessing. Outside of those activities how much time is spent on the Lord? Not asking for things or mentioning your problems—there is a place for that for sure. But just learning about Him, praising Him, rejoicing in Him? Reading the Word with intent, not as a chore or entertainment? How much do our daily activities touch on the Lord? How often do His values come up when we are selecting our entertainment?

In today’s verse we’re told to be anxious in nothing. In all things to be the opposite of anxious. We can’t seem to manage ‘all’ easily when it comes to the Lord whom we love. How much harder it is to manage everything when it comes to the things which face us. So often it comes down to the compartmentalisation that we give to our lives. Church is a God thing. Sin/salvation is a God thing. Whether I do well on this test or not is a me thing. Finding a parking spot is a me thing. God cares about things like coveting, murder, adultery, and tithing. God doesn’t care about which pants I order, what groceries I buy, and whether or not I ever get the headphone cord untangled. All of this is such nonsense. He created us. “His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels as the more excellent name he has inherited is better than theirs” (Hebrews 1:3-4). Jesus IS the Word. He maintains us. He maintains us when we are worshipping in church. He maintains us when we are washing our socks. He maintains us when we are choosing not to cheat, lie, and steal. He is maintaining us when we are choosing between regular and extra-volume shampoo. It isn’t the thing in question that God cares about—it’s US.

If you have children, you have asked the question ‘why?’ as many times as there are grains of sand on the shore. Kids do unusual things. They do cute things. They do inexplicable things. Occasionally they act how we define normal. Through it all you ask why? Sometimes aloud and sometimes alone. Why? Why did they do that? Is there a reason you stuffed your pancake into that glass of milk? Is there a reason you coloured on the walls? Why did you give your sibling that particular present? Why did you wake me at 2am? Why are you wearing those pants? The list goes on. We are forever asking why. It is either to understand them or make sense of what we have discovered about our physical environment. But always the why? Should we expect anything less from God? Should we expect Him to be less interested in us? If He is a good father, then we should expect it. Not only expect it, but indulge it. We should take everything to Him in prayer.

The Lord is not stuffy. He is not stodgy. He is not stuck up. He is not aloof. He is not entitled. He is not snobby. He is fully and one hundred percent full of patience and joy. When we take things to Him or go to include Him in things, we don’t need to worry about what He is going to say. How He is going to take it. When you talk to Him is not when He finds out about it. Nothing is a surprise. Nothing is a revelation to Him. We can’t drop a bombshell. We can’t shock Him. It’s okay. He still wants to talk to us. It’s like when you are watching a friend or a child do something and they don’t know you are (or they’ve lost perception of you). Like seeing them perform. When they meet up with you frequently they want to tell you about the event. Talk about what they did. Even though you saw it. Even though you already know what happened. Except with God He knows all the interior stuff too. How you felt, what you thought. All of it. But He still wants you to talk with Him. Share with Him. Communicate with Him.

Not out of fear or obligation. Not out of religious rote. But with a happy heart. With joy. Pleased to speak to Him. Pleased to talk. To tell of your day, your thoughts, or your feelings. Every time we hit a bump of any kind, He’d like to hear about it. Misplaced your pen. Long line at the grocery store. Can’t pay your bills. Been fired from your job. He wants to hear about it. In the same way, He wants to get thanks for the good stuff. Everything good comes from the Lord (James 1:17). A good beverage? Thank the Lord. Good food? Thank the Lord. A good meeting? Thank the Lord. A parking spot near the door? Thank the Lord. Everything. From the minor inconvenience to the major blessing, bring it all to Him. Don’t be afraid. Be happy and share with the Lord. If it’s negative, ask for help dealing with it. If it’s positive, thank Him for gracing you with it. It is a practise that changes how you think. It reduces stress. It eliminates worry. It enables the Lord.

“Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). Among the many implications this has for us is a very simple one. If you block the Lord from moving in your life by your free will of choice, then He will respect your decision and not move. On the other hand, if you give Him permission by your free will of choice to move in your life, then He will. It requires us to be obedient of course. Fixing something, restoring something, or resolving something isn’t a matter of the Lord miraculously altering our reality. He could, of course, but if He was to replace the teeth of someone who let them rot by poor habits and bad choices, the chances that person would do it again are high. The Lord does miraculous things for us and in us. He also can ask us to obey Him. To do something, not do something, or whatever He likes. We’re asking Him to assist us, to guide us, to lead us, and we’re giving Him permission to do just that. We’re not saying do this this way. We’re not giving God suggestions. We’re humbly submitting to whatever His plan is and by free will covenanting with Him. And we’re to do it with joy.

Why? Because we’re not being forced. We’re not slamming doors screaming FINE! I’LL CLEAN UP MY ACT THEN!!! as if we were some unbalanced teenager being told to tidy their room or they can’t go out to that party Friday night. We’re doing more than asking for help. We’re doing more than acknowledging God did a thing for us. We’re giving Him permission to enter that area of our lives. Are you having financial trouble? Give Him permission to work in your finances by opening them up to Him through tithing. Are you having job issues? Give Him permission to work at your work by submitting your decisions to Him. Praying opens the door for Jesus to step in. It’s not easy to do, but it’s simple. If we let Him in, He will remodel us. He can be our fortress. Our help. Our high place. But it will be on His terms, His way, in His time. Look at two pieces of two psalms:

“Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident. One thing I have asked of the LORD, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life, to see the LORD’s beauty, and to enquire in his temple. For in the day of trouble, he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle, he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me. I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD” (Psalm 27:3-6). “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers. Under his wings you will take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and rampart. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked” (Psalm 91:3-8).

Look at the wording of those psalms (and many other scriptures like them). While God does tell us at times that He will remove our enemies or end our suffering, most of the time the language is like these psalms. Which is very much in line with the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.” Or in John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” No where in the Word does the Lord promise you Easy Street. He doesn’t promise that the circumstances around you will go away. He doesn’t promise that issues, troubles, trials, persecutions, or injustice will fade away. He promises something better.

He promises that we will be above them. That He will shelter us from them. That these things will be going on, but they will not touch us. There was a hurricane a little while ago and a delivery driver called in to the main facility scared. She wanted to return to the main building for shelter because the hurricane was moving their way. She was told no. That in no circumstances was she to return to the plant without having delivered her packages. Anything else would be a forfeiture of her day’s pay as she would be marked incomplete. She was terrified and upset and the call is quite piteous to hear. But what happened? The plant was hit by the storm and damaged. Had she returned, there was a great chance that she would have been injured. What happened to her all alone in her truck? Nothing. She ended up being rattled, but fine. This is a great example of being somewhere you don’t want to be and being fine. Was she a believer? I don’t know. Did she specifically pray for help? I don’t know. But I wonder if she had a grandmother out there praying for her safety. A parent or two on their knees asking for safety for their little girl.

We see it when the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Storm rises. Boat being swamped. Men yelling, calling encouragement to each other. Bailing out the boat. Calling out to God, perhaps? And Jesus was snoring in the bottom. Wet. Possibly uncomfortable—if He hadn’t been snoring so hard. Actually, I don’t know if Jesus snored. I’ll have to remember to ask Him when I get to heaven. It seems like a heaven question. In any case, all the gospels have the same story and report the same thing. Luke 8:22-25, Matthew 8:23-27, and Mark 4:36-41 all have Jesus waking up. Seeing their panic. Standing up, telling the storm to hush up, and then asking them where their faith was? Why weren’t they using it? Which implies Jesus was using His. Knowing He was in the shelter of the Father’s wings. Lifted up. Safe. We’re called to be the same way. Especially when it seems that Jesus is asleep in our crisis. We should rest in the Father like Him, not panic like the disciples.

“in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” When we rest in the Lord we rest in Him. He IS peace. We will be at peace. It is important that this is what we do. That this is how we live. That this is the pattern of our everyday lives. That in everything we are coming to Him. In everything we are thanking Him—either that He gave us a good thing or that He has the bad thing in hand. In everything obedient to His words and His Word. Buying the extra bag of rice because He nudged you. Sometimes it’s huge and life saving because there is going to be a flood and you’ll be cut off for a week but you’ll have enough food. Sometimes it is as simple as He knows what you want. I remember about a week ago my spouse was shopping and I was in the vehicle with the kids. One was talking—as they do—and mentioned they really wanted this kind of puffy tofu thing they really like. We rarely get it, but he apparently really REALLY had been craving it lately. No biggie. I told him to remind me next time I was making out the shopping list and I would put it down. We got home, opened the grocery bags and there was puffy tofu. I called my spouse over and asked why the purchase. They felt a push. Can you imagine the smile and excitement on my boy’s face when he saw it served that night? The Father knew he wanted it and pushed so that it got bought.

This is the kind of in your life participation that the Lord seeks. This and more than this. So much more than this. “The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Abundant life and prosperity doesn’t mean a million dollars in the bank. It doesn’t mean a huge house and fancy cars. It means our needs met and our wants delivered—the ones that aren’t selfish anyway (James 4:3). It means He has a plan for us to get things that make us smile as well as what we need. It means He has a plan in motion before we realise that we have a problem. It means living in the fullness of His Grace and having a back and forth communicative relationship that is unparalleled on this earth.

As we bring ourselves to the Lord with thanksgiving and praise. Welcoming Him into each and every part of your life as each and every part of your life asserts itself. Bringing to Him and laying at His feet our wants and desires. We give Him permission to move and work in and through us. Changing not only our lives but the lives of those around us. Bringing us all to the fullness of who Christ is. Revealing to us the mystery and majesty of the Name Above All Names and the authority that it can unlock in your life when you are broken and obedient to the Father. Let Him guard your heart. Let His Word transform you. Let Him into all your life, not just the ‘God parts’. Rejoice and bring thanksgiving to Him. Show Him where your faith is.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Habakkuk 3:17-19

Rejoice in the Lord! We’re told again and again in the Word to rejoice in the Lord and to pray without ceasing. A lot of people find it hard to praise the Lord when their world is coming apart. They go to church, read their bible daily, do devotions, journal their dreams and God thoughts, teach their children of the love of the Lord. They do it all. They even tithe eleven percent. So why did they lose their job? Why did their car get totalled? Why did Mom get cancer? Why did Bob get killed by a drunk driver? Why did Andrew never come back from the war? These are hard questions for us. We see everything in terms of ourselves, and these problems and circumstances are very real and very us-centric. The Word nowhere tells you to be happy about the circumstances. In no way does it claim that the things of the enemy are to be celebrated. We don’t need to exult in these happenings. Our habit is to moan, groan, and be miserable. To worry and fret. To be anxious and depressed. We don’t have to be that way. We can praise the Lord. We can thank the Lord that He is there. We can affirm with the Lord that He is our source. We can affirm with the Lord that He is the one who sustains us. We can be vigilant for that still, small voice. No matter what our circumstances, we can rejoice in the Lord. The Lord is a multi-dimensional, multi-faceted, three-in-one, living, unique God. There is never a reason not to praise Him. There is nothing in which He is not involved. There is nothing that He is not watching and aware of. There is nothing that He is not speaking to us about. All the limits are on our side. We accept a future healing because we can’t see one now. We accept a patient endurance in calamity because we can’t see a miraculous deliverance now. God is the God of the impossible, but He meets us where our free will is at. He will move exactly as far as you will let Him. What’s the secret to moving that line? To getting to where there is nothing that you won’t accept of Him in your life? Praise. Thanksgiving. Thanking Him in everything. For being God. For being prepared on our behalf. Rejoice in the Lord, not in your circumstances. He is the God of more than enough. He is the God of getting things done. And He is the God who loves you too much not to try and let you let Him act. Rejoice in the Lord and all else comes within our grasp because it is by Jesus, for Jesus, and through Jesus that we have anything at all. May contentment be the first gift you receive as you praise Him.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.