Fear No Fear

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

There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves; men fainting for fear and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Luke 21:25–26 (emphasis added)

That is a powerful set of verses, but it seems more like a snapshot of fear than a command not to. But these verses speak to many times in history. Times that are getting more frequent as time passes. The world is getting more and more messed up. There are weather events. There are nations attacking nations. Terrorists are rising up and claiming they are not. World watchdogs are looking at victims and claiming that they are oppressors. Nations are quaking in their boots and wondering if another World War — perhaps a nuclear war — is around the corner. It seems that fear is going to be a national pastime. How is this a command not to? The next two verses contain the command.

“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near” (verses 27–28, emphasis mine). Lifting up your head was a metaphor for acknowledging one greater than you were. Looking up at the giant gate and acknowledging that the owner was so big you had to lift up your head to see them. It was a picture of might and greatness that was very common in the ancient world. David wrote it into Psalm 24, implying that no matter what great scale a building is built on, it needs to be bigger because even the earth can’t contain the Lord our God. It is easy to acknowledge God’s authority. He is so mighty, there is no doubt that we have to lift our head to see His glory. “Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! His greatness is unsearchable. One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts. I will meditate on the glorious majesty of your honor, on your wondrous works. Men will speak of the might of your awesome acts. I will declare your greatness” (Psalm 145:3–6).

The world is heading to a bad place. You can see it. Some scientists see it as a place where the environment is wrecked and global warming (or cooling) has made it nearly uninhabitable. Some scientists see it as a place where there is a perpetual food crisis. Either not enough, or so damaged and twisted that the very thing we need to survive becomes the source of disease and sickness. Other people look at pollution getting so bad that we’re forced to live in artificial environments. Others see us heading to war and upheaval so bad and widespread that it leaves us in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. For others they are social ills. Society becoming faceless and big-brother, or homogenous and glutted on happiness. All that is the expectation of the things to come — not even counting all the stuff the Lord has revealed in His Word that people know is coming (although they tend to discount it until it arrives).

Peter understood what Jesus was saying with the help of the Holy Spirit. He spoke of the same things when he was preaching to the crowds in Jerusalem the day they were baptised with the Holy Spirit. He quoted Joel 2:28–32. “It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Yes, and on my servants and on my handmaidens in those days, I will pour out my Spirit, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. It will be that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

I do not know if there will be literal changes in our solar system or not. Maybe it will LOOK like it. Maybe it will be something that we will DESCRIBE as those things. Maybe it will be LITERAL CHANGES. The Lord God Almighty can do what He likes. He is NOT bound by our sense of the rational. Whatever will occur, it will not be sages and learned scholars who will notice these things and tell the rest of us. These things will be signs that EVERYONE will notice. They CANNOT be missed. We will all see it and will know that things are reaching their designated climax.

But BEFORE ALL THESE THINGS we need to be standing on the Word. On the Rock of our Salvation. Because “when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads,” remember? If we wait until the events happen, we will not be ready. We won’t have any faith built up. We won’t know what to do. We’ll flounder around with the rest of everyone. It is impossible to grow your faith for the moment you need it IN THE MOMENT YOU NEED IT. If it was possible to do that, the Lord would have instructed people to read the Word when something happens. He doesn’t though. He tells us to KEEP the Word in front of our eyes ALL THE TIME (Proverbs 4:20–22, Deuteronomy 11:18, Joshua 1:8). The moment that an athlete is called upon to perform in a world-class event is not when they start training. We are told to keep the Word before us so that we are ever-ready.

Jesus took three disciples and went up a mountain. He had a great encounter. He hung out with Moses and Elisha and had a great conversation (Matthew 17:1–21). This was a regular week. Nothing special. When they came down the mountain (vs 14), a man came whose son was possessed. Jesus cast out the evil spirit. The disciples couldn’t (vs 16 & 19). Jesus could. NOT because He was the Son of God. It was because He spent time praying and fasting. That praying and fasting before this event had two major effects: unbelief came out of Him and faith built up. Jesus was a human just like us. Fully man (John 1:14, Matthew 1:25). He had to put His flesh down too. He had to build up His faith too. The disciples were with them for three YEARS, but they did NOT do the same things that Jesus did until the Holy Spirit came upon them (Mark 2:18–28). Consequently, they did not walk in the power and authority that Jesus was able to. Now, they did not have His righteous spirit so they would have had limitations, but they weren’t even close to His levels of accomplishment. They were almost NEVER ready for what came up.

Jesus told them to cross the lake. A storm came up (a common occurrence). The devil took advantage of that natural occurrence and tried to sink the boat (Matthew 8:22–27). They panicked. They floundered. They woke up Jesus begging for help. He told them right there where their problem was: faith (vs 26). Jesus spoke in totally built up faith and stilled the natural, eliminated the supernatural, and made EVERYTHING obey. He had faith in the Word, He had faith in God, and He had both prayed and fasted Himself full up. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO. We’re to walk like Jesus walked (1 John 2:6). We’re to follow His example (1 Peter 2:21). We’re to imitate Paul, who imitated Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1). We’re to be imitators of God (Ephesians 5:1–2). We are to keep Jesus’ commandments (John 14:15), which are also the commandments of the Father. We’re to be ready for every good work (Titus 3:1–2). We cannot do that without praying and fasting. We cannot do that without spending time in the Word. We cannot do that without seeking the Lord’s face. If we wait, we will NOT be ready.

We need to be ready to lift our heads when these things begin to happen. We won’t know when that is (Matthew 25:13). We need to be ready. Seek the Lord in times when you are having no trouble and you won’t even blink an eye when something does happen. You’ll immediately look to the Lord God for all your needs in obedient expectation, faith, worship, and humble submission. You won’t be found napping or unprepared (Matthew 25:1–4). You’ll be ready, invited, and heading into the feast of the bridegroom with a smile and a lamp full of oil.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Titus 3:3–7

God didn’t wait for us to do something that might maybe be worthy of being considered worthy. God knew we couldn’t do anything to earn our way to heaven. Only PURE and BLEMISHLESS sacrifices are acceptable to the Lord for the covering OR remission of sins. No human being has EVER been acceptable. Only Jesus was spotless. Only Jesus could save us (1 Peter 1:17–21). He saw us in our malice, envy, hatefulness, lust, and selfish pleasures. He wanted us by His side. There we were covered in our filth, and He saw a sparkling bride full of wonder and beauty. He didn’t see what we WERE (while at the same time seeing everything), but He saw what the Father could make us INTO. He ran home and told His Father all about us. He came to earth and told us about how much the Father wanted to meet us. And the Holy Spirit was going between all of us being match-maker. This isn’t a flash in the pan. This is a ‘from before the foundation of the world until the new heaven and new earth show up’ courtship. This is divine romance. This is love. Justifying us with His Grace. Cleansing and restoring us with His sacrifice. Leading us to get into His Word, seek His face, and be ready for all things (Ephesians 2:10, John 17:17, 1 Corinthians 1:26–29). If we will do the seeking, He will do the redeeming, and nothing heading our way will truly surprise or confound us (James 1:5). When you walk like that, the world can do nothing to panic you. Don’t fear, build your faith in Him. It will always be the best thing you can do. It turns a crisis into a praise meeting. Every time.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.