Crippled by FEAR ?
Isaiah 41:10
‘Fear not,for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you, yes I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right
hand.’
As I awoke quite
early this morning, this verse came to mind. How appropriate it was too, for
many reasons. May be it was no coincidence that I was being kept awake by a
very heavy storm outside, with the rain beating down onto the roof closely
followed by a loud clap of thunder and
flashes of lightning. Finally I could make out the sound of hailstones beating
down on the tiles above me like little bullets.
It’s stopped now
and all is quiet for the time being! It’s often not the storms outside that cause us most fear
but rather those inside our heads, turmoil that won’t go away and robs of any
peace. This can be caused by many different reasons:- fear associated with
living on your own, fear of going into a new situation to meet people you don’t
know, fear of being attacked when we are out and about, fear of a forthcoming
operation, fear of debt, fear of things we have done in our past that we’re
ashamed of coming to light, fear of failure.... the list goes on. Of course
there are different levels of fear from acute down to mild with many others in
between. One of my fears has always been going to the dentist for a filling or
extraction. Nothing personal about the dentist of course .
I am presently
reading John Ortberg’s ‘classic’ book, ‘ If you want to walk on water you got
to get out of the boat’. It is , of course , based on the well-known incident
in the New testament found in Matthew 14:25-32 when early one morning, whilst
the disciples were out in their boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus suddenly approaches
them walking on the waters ! They were all terrified thinking at first that it
must be a ghost Jesus addressed their fears telling them to ‘Take heart. It is
I; do not be afraid’.
Surely they then
recognised His voice even if his image was Blurred. However Peter wanted more
evidence and expressed some doubt and ( as usual) was the only one who spoke
up. ‘ Lord, if it is you command me to come to you on the water.’ In other
words , do a miracle for us then I’ll know for certain! So when Jesus invited him
to come Peter stepped out of the boat and began walking towards Jesus. All went
well at firstand he may have even been enjoying this ‘water-walking thing’.
That was until he took his eyes off Jesus and looked down at the huge waves !
Alarmed he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ and Jesus immediately took him by the
hand and upbraided him, ‘You of little faith, why did you you doubt?’ Personally
I think this admonition was a little harsh. After all Peter was the only one to
take Jesus at His word and at least start his journey towards Him. I don’t
think I would have stepped out of the boat until I’d witnessed all the other disciples do it successfully
and return to the boat safely !
There are many other passages in His word
where God addresses His
people in order to alleviate their natural fears. Moses was reluctant to return
to Pharoah to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery . Moses gave
the excuse that he was not a good speaker, not an eloquent man. So God provided
Aaron his brother to go with him for companionship ! When Elijah ran for his
life from Jezebel he crawls
under a scrubby tree and, in deep depression, asks God to let him die. Here We
find many classic symptoms of depression
in his thinking --withdrawal or escape, moodiness, apprehension or fear,
self-pity, feelings of worthlessness, loss of hope or confidence, anger,
irritability and so on to name just some of the symptoms. ‘I’ve
had enough . I may as well be dead.’ He
fell asleep , weary from his long journey and when woken by an angel was given
food and drink which helped to replenish his strength. God’s mercy !
Isaiah says, ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have
called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be
with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you…..’
Ortberg points out that the ‘single command in scripture taht occurs
more often than any other- God’s most frequently repeated instruction – is
formulated in two words:- ‘Fear not.’ ‘ Or similarly, ‘Do not be afraid.’ ‘Have no anxiety about
anything.’ ‘Do not worry about tomorrow....’ etc ‘In fact there are 366 “fear nots” verses in the
Bible- that equates to one for every day of the year , including leap years
!...’
We are at the present time (2020) living in and through
some of the most fearful times in living memory for most of us due to the
coronavirus pandemic that has so quickly
spread it’s tentacles throughout the world. This has resulted in many
thousands of deaths, countless illnesses and grief stricken families, not to
mention the dreade Lockdown with its many restrictions and loss of liberties,
loss of jobs, isolation and warnings not
to socialise with friends and family who live too far away from our
neighbourhoods. This has resulted in folk becoming depressed or frustrated or
worried ( Should I go shopping or order
goods online? Have I brought a mask to wear in public places? Was that person
too close to me? How long will it be before a vaccine is discovered and
available to all? And so on....)
There is inner turmoil. How we long to be ‘free’ again, able to naturally mix
with others, hug friends and family, go back to work , live in a state of some
sort of ‘normality’ !
I am reminded in 1 John 4: 18 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because
fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
And 2 Timothy
1:7 tells us
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind.
Finally let’s look
again at Isaiah 41:10 . Apart from telling us twice not to fear or be afraid,
God draws our attention to his great promises and assurances :- ‘I am with you!’ ‘I am your God.’ ‘I will strengthen you !’ ‘I will help you.’ ‘I will uphold you with my powerful right
hand.’
The Lord promises to
always be there for us whatever our circumstances and His promise is to give us peace if we but ‘
cast all our care upon Him.’ Phillipians
4;6,7 says ‘ Have no anxiety about anything but in everything with prayer and
thanksgiving let your request be made
known to God ... And The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep our hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus ‘
I love this verse for
many reasons but chiefly because God promises His PEACE if cease from our strivings and pray, thank Him
and bring our concerns to Him. Peace that ‘ passes all understanding ‘ ! In the words of that lovely hymn by
Horatio Spafford :-
‘ When peace like a
river attendeth my way
When
sorrow like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot , Thou has taught me to say
It is well, it is
well with my soul....’
And Horatio Spafford
certainly knew sorrow like few others. The hymn was written after he had lost
his 4 year old son. He was financially ruined in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871
. Later he lost all 4 of his daughters at sea when the ship they were sailing
in collided with another vessel whilst crossing the Atlantic.
A child will come to its mother when he or she
is hurt or feeling down, lonely or scared for a cwtch or cuddle and for love.
The child comes without care or fear of rebuke or rejection because it knows
that the mother loves him or her unconditionally ! How much more will our
heavenly Father do this for us . ‘ God shows His love for us in that while we
were yet sinners , Christ died for us’ Through Christ God has made a way for us to come into His arms to
experience His unconditional love, His cwtch. We need have no fear in coming.
There is nothing we can do to earn it, nothing we need to do to persuade God to
show us this love, and nothing God can do to refuse to give us His love if we
come through no merit of our own but rather in repentance, contrition and
faith. He wants to give us peace for our anxiety, victory over fear, faith for
our doubts and above all His infinite grace and mercy.
The Lord said to the apostle Paul who
suffered from some sort of ongoing affliction and asked God frequently to take
it away, ‘My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in ( you)
weakness’
