Overcoming Fear with an Even Greater Fear: A Confession

“The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread” Isaiah 8:13.

I had several encounters over the past week that left me quite disappointed in myself. One in particular, was a remarkable opportunity to explain the gospel to someone.  But instead, I acquiesced to the politically correct voice to simply encourage this person with some “safe words.” How cowardly! 

As I went about grieving over my seeming faithlessness, I was met by Isaiah 8:11-13. And what a fascinating truth it brought. In that passage, the LORD warns Isaiah against the common fears of his age. Verses 11 and 12 state:

“This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people: ‘Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear and do not dread it.”

A prudent caution from the LORD. Its goal however is not to exhort Isaiah to live without fear but rather to relinquish all his “slavish creature-fears in the reverential fear of God.”[1] Verse 13 states: “The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.”  So in short, Isaiah, don’t fear what others fear, but let your dread and regard be for The Lord Almighty who is holy.

The picture then is not overcoming the first fear with some wonderful jolt of courage but rather making that first fear a trivial thing in light of an even greater fear: the fear of a transcendent and holy God – One who is far removed from you and me in righteousness. He is perfect beyond our understanding. He is awesome in His majesty, absolute in His justice and fearsome in His glory (Isaiah 6:5, Luke 5:8). He is a God to be feared! What an insult to regard someone else’s perception of me over His honor! What a sin!

I’m grieving over my sin today and mourning over the offense it is to God’s glory (James 4:8-10). I understand that my hope for overcoming rests alone in God’s sanctifying power. So I’m drawing close to Him in fervent prayer, not for fearlessness, but for a consuming and reverential fear of Him that makes all other fears inconsequential. 

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[1] Divine Conduct and Saint Indeed, John Flavel

When I am Afraid, I will Trust in God

I belong to a small group of very young mothers. We meet monthly to support and encourage each other and study the Scriptures with a desire to raise godly offspring. At our last meeting, we viewed and discussed a DVD on fear-based parenting. We admitted to being afraid in ways we were not before becoming parents. Parents worry about their children. From in vitro, to infants, toddlers, young-schoolers, teens and beyond, we concern ourselves with the safety, well-being and sometimes even the happiness of our children. 

 

We agreed that being a parent can make you a coward in some ways. Many will quiet the idealist zeal of their youth and begin making decisions for the contentment and protection of their children – protection from both real and imagined dangers. The group said all these things, ate animal crackers, drank fruit juice, emphasized the importance of giving our children to the Lord and left agreeing to make decisions inspired ultimately by God’s glory and rather than our parental fears.

All this took place on Saturday, December 8, 2012. Six days later, on Friday December 14, 2012, a lone gunman entered a school packed with young children with the intent to kill. And he did. His horrific rampage ended with the lives of 26 people, 20 of them children ages 5 through 10. I heard the news and felt many emotions – some were distinct, others were difficult to sort out, fear was among them.

I’m certain that my fear was not uncommon. Many parents thought of “what if” possibilities while at the same time trying not to think of “what if” possibilities and fear slipped in somewhere in between – it slipped in appearing almost justifiable in light of the immensity of the massacre.

So what do we do with these feelings? And what should I do with Saturday, December 8^th in the ghastly face of Friday, December 14^th? Should I let the terror of the 14^th swallow up the affirmations made on the 8^th? Does the magnitude of the horror validate the fears? Is it right to ignore (at least for a while) the truth that guided my decision against parental fear just six days before?

I believe that moments like this – shocking and circumstantial moments that stir strong emotions and passions – come as tests and as opportunities. They test how highly we value Scripture and present opportunities for us to check our emotions against God’s word. We either chose to justify and indulge the feelings or deliberately believe the truth in spite of the moment.

And so fully aware of the reality of Friday December 14, 2012 – the reality of darkness, sin and innate depravity that reveals itself in the murder of children – I’m choosing to cling to the truth shared on Saturday, December 8, 2012. I will once again give my child to the Lord, because she is His in the first place, and will pray for the grace to make parenting decisions inspired ultimately by His glory and not by my fears. I know of course that this decision will not immediately and automatically overcome my fears once and for all. And so “When I am (once more) afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. (In the end), What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm  56:3-4).  

May the LORD help the parents grieving the loss of their children today!