Humbly overcoming fear

It is humbling to read the Bible with an open heart. To hear the oracles of God presented in a love that can only come from the Father is truly awe inspiring. As I sat and meditated on the past few weeks so many things overcame my mind that I had to stop and regroup a couple of times. What seemed to take precedence as the major theme was fear. I have watched fear shut down the world. Now before you shut me down, I am not speaking against the safety and well being of anyone. I am a husband and a father  as much as anyone, I understand that precautions must be taken when we step into the unknown to safeguard our families. So as I was saying…. I have observed fear enter into the hearts and minds of men and women alike. Some of the strongest people I know have shown fear that I have never seen buckle under pressure, ever. The anger and frustration that has come along with the fear has been quite noticeable. I have found myself getting irritated with things that have changed that have nothing to do with anything other than someone somewhere thinking up things to worry about. When we are consumed by fear we forget about others and only think of ourselves first. It is a harsh reality, but it’s the truth. Many people push family and loved ones away in fear of something they can not see or do not understand. They isolate themselves from everyone in fear of the unknown: What might be or might not be. I am thankful for the hand of God upon His people and for the safety of the nation. I pray for our country’s safety and well being on a daily basis. I pray for our leadership that they will make rational informed decisions with the guidance of God always in their thoughts.  

 I was reading in the gospel of Mark and a few things came to my attention about fear. In the last few verses of chapter 4, Jesus and his disciples were in a boat during a storm. Of course, If you’ve ever been in a boat in a storm you know that things can get sketchy quick. As the disciples began to worry and fret over the storm,  they went looking for Jesus. Much to their surprise, they found Him asleep on a pillow. When they woke Him up, the first thing they did was try to project blame on Him because he was sleeping and not scared like they were. They asked Him,”Teacher do you not care if we perish?” It’s funny how we can let worry and fear consume us to the point where when we see someone that isn’t afraid, we lash out at them as if they are being the ignorant ones or as if they have done something to cause our fears. Fear only allows us to see more fear and anything that is different from the fear must conform to our fear or it has to go. That’s the dangerous thing about fear is never accepting anything that does not agree with it. It takes and grows and cultivates more fear and anxiety. At this point, the disciples had seen Jesus perform miracles yet in a moment of fear, they blamed him for not paying attention to their safety. As if He didn’t already know what was going on and knew it wouldn’t harm them. They didn’t think that maybe if Jesus isn’t worried about this storm maybe I shouldn’t worry about it either. After they woke Him, He simply spoke to the storm. Peace be still. The bible tells us that immediately the wind ceased and there was great calm. Then, He turned to the disciples and asked them why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Now I have to do some self reflection right there. I actually wrote myself a question in my bible to the side of that verse asking myself what fear do I have that is making my faith weak? Me the big, bold, strong man of God? Yes, I had to repent of some fears that I have allowed to separate me from hearing God’s peace. Instead, I was too caught up in the fear of the storm.  

As I read on in chapter 5, I was reading about the demon possessed man that Jesus healed. I was struck by the fact that the bible talks about the man being possessed by an unclean spirit, and twice it says that he hid in the tombs. Tombs are where the dead things are. Just a thing that came to my attention that the first sign of the man being possessed was that he wanted to hide with the dead things. It goes on to talk about Jesus casting out the Legion of demons that was in the man and how the man immediately was in his right mind and went and clothed himself. But back to our subject of fear. When the people of the town saw what Jesus had done they did not understand it, and they asked Jesus to depart from their region. No matter that the man’s deliverance was a great miracle and how it must have brought peace to the people of the town; they didn’t have to worry about listening to this guy scream and watch him cut himself. I’m sure they were afraid of what he might do to them or their children if he got around them. If nothing else, Jesus had removed a great nuisance from their community; instead of praise and gratitude, they chose fear. They allowed fear to separate them from praising Jesus on behalf of what he had done for them and the man. Fear stole their praise. It robbed them of the blessings of Jesus. They pleaded with Jesus to go away because of lack of understanding, so instead of searching for understanding, they chose fear. That simple act of praise could have healed many more in their community, and who only knows what other miracles could have taken place by Jesus being with them. We will never know. Fear robbed us of the moment. 

I know for myself, I have had to step away from everything to pray and seek understanding and allow the Father to show me areas of my heart that have been driven and even shaped by fears I wasn’t aware I had. It’s humbling when we allow God’s word to speak to us. It brings hope and joy through understanding and wisdom and knowledge. Without the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of who Christ is, we are only left with fear. 

I pray that you take the time to seek His strength and be open to his word. Allow it to pull up fear by the roots and sow peace in your heart. As men of God we must be the first to repent and allow God to prune these things in our lives so that we can be better men, husbands, fathers, brothers, sons and leaders in our homes and communities. It all starts with being humble to the word of God and being intentional with the things of God.