Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
What are you afraid of? Getting bad news from your test results? The surgery you have just been scheduled for? Losing your job? Getting a bad grade on your report card? Not having enough money to pay all your bills this month? Your teenage son or daughter making the right choices? That you will not be a good father? Big decisions that are coming up—should I go to college and if so where and what should I choose for a major? What am I going to do with myself when my ailing spouse dies, and can I make it alone? Will I be a burden to my family? Are we going to get too much rain? Is it not going to rain enough later? Will people like me? Will they think I am doing a good job? This list could go on and on! Take a moment or two before you read on and think about your fears. You could write them down on a piece of paper.
There is a line that is spoken in one way or another many, many, many times in Scripture. It is, “Do not be afraid!” One of my favorite examples is from the account of the parting of the Red Sea. After Pharaoh told the children of Israel that they could leave and return home, he had a change of heart and came after them with all his chariots and horseman. We are told that the Israelites “feared greatly,” and they cried out saying, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?” But Moses responds to them saying, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” What happens next is the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh and his army when the waters comes crashing back down upon them. After this, Moses writes, “Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.”
This line reminded me of another story in Scripture. Remember the account of the calming of the storm when Jesus and his disciples were out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee? A wicked storm blew up while Jesus was sleeping and the terrified disciples woke him and asked him if he cared that they all were about to die. Jesus calmly got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and immediately they were calm. Let me ask you, “How did the disciples feel now?” Though you might guess, “relieved,” Mark tells us that they were filled with great fear and said, “Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey him?”
Keeping these two accounts in mind, I will ask you again, “What are you afraid of?” If you made a list, please pull it out and with a marker over the top of your list make a large cross or write the words, “The Lord!” A motto we can all strive to live by is this: “Fear the Lord, and nothing else!” The fear of the Lord is real fear for He is all-powerful and we cannot control Him. Yet, at the same time, we never separate this fear from the knowledge that God loves us so much He sent Christ to be our Savior. He is our deliverer! So, like the Israelites and the disciples, we fear the Lord and believe in Him! We fear, love, and trust in God above all things! We fear the Lord, and nothing else!
Fearing Him Alone,
Pastor Liebich