NO FEAR

Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be.- Lucius Caelius Lacantius

 

To our surprise, the small town we lived in was having trick or treat hours the day before Halloween.  It was a Sunday and I was getting ready for the evening service at church.  My wife was tending to one of my twin daughters while the other one was standing at the big plate glass window looking out into the front yard.  Suddenly I heard a scream and watched as my young daughter with a look of terror step away from the window and then with a burst of speed ran to me and she clung to my legs tightly with all the strength that she could muster.  I lifted her to me and she wrapped her arms around my neck tightly and buried her face into my neck.  A sharp rap sounded upon the door and before me I saw a group of kid dressed up in face paint and mask.  Before me at the door were ghost, goblins, and zombies.  My daughter had fallen victim to the age old motif of Halloween: fear.  God did not give us fear.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7).  So often we are guilty of letting fear control our days and our circumstances, yet a Christian life should be a life without fear.  There should be no fear because of His protection.  In the heat of the battle and the darkest of night, He is with us.  He shields us in the arms of His love and wraps us tightly in the embrace of His grace.  No matter what circumstances we are faced with, He invites us to come to Him and to leave those problems at His feet.  A hightower, a fortress, a shield, a buckler, a refuge; in Him can all these things be found.  No matter our high the floods rise, I have no fear, because my high tower can take me higher above the waters. 

He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.  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 lays waste at noonday.  A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.-  Psalm 91:4-7

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. – Psalm 91:14-15

I have no fear because of my past.  The guilt of my past will no longer be held above my head.  I have been released from the fear of my past due to His mercy which endures forever.  I have been clothed in His righteousness.  I do not need to look back to my past, for that is not where I am going.  Where I am going is not behind me, but in front of me.  The sins and guilt of my past has been removed far from me.    

“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). 

I have no fear because of the days ahead.  He sets my path.  Though at times darkness seems to beset us on either side, I will cling to Him whose light shines far into the days ahead.  I will cling to His promises of what lies ahead.  Death may come, but victory will and shall be mine.  The saints of old have long since experience that victory, and I have no fear because that same victory has been promised to me.  No fear.  What the world has to offer, Heaven’s deal is sweeter.  In this world, all things are temporary, but in heaven, life is everlasting.  There is nothing this world can say to me that will bring fear.  There is nothing this world can do that will bring fear.  I place my trust no in the hands of creation, but in the hands of the Creator.  So we may boldly say:“ The LORD is my helper; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6).  On this day, a day magnified on fear, I will cling to the promise of Jesus to His disciples many centuries ago. 

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:1-4