YHWH is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

Fear – The question is rhetorical. The expected answer is “No one.” But that answer usually leaves out the one person that I really do fear. Even when no one else can bring me low because the Lord is my shepherd, there is still an echo of the Garden in this question. Whom shall I fear? Me, that’s who! I am the only one capable of wrenching myself out of the Lord’s protective cover. I am the only one able to murder myself in my desire to control my own destiny. I might not fear any other person, but when I meet God in the Garden, I might answer as Adam did. “I heard You walking and I was afraid.”

Perhaps we could use a quick refresher course on Adam’s startling response. Take another look at our exploration on June 15. In the swampland of desire, the creature I must fear is me. Put aside all those unwarranted concerns about other people and see the truth. You are the enemy of your soul. Adam knew it. David knew it (Psalm 51). Yeshua knew it (Luke 12:20) and Sha’ul knew it (Romans 7). No wonder Rav Sha’ul cried out, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). Is there any protection against the enemy within?

Yes, thank the Lord, there is! The same God who delivers me from my outside enemies knows my internal battle as well. He knows the weakness of my frame and the destructive penchant of my animal ego. He came to deliver me from the body of this death resident in my very being in the world. Oh, by the way, that’s why conversion is dying. We don’t help by putting the emphasis of conversion on life ever lasting. We would serve the lost much better if we actually told them the answer to our deepest fear is dying. That is the only answer for this kind of fear. The enemy must die so that I might be freed from its terror. God tells me the absolutely amazing answer to my greatest torment, the fear of myself, is that I can die and still live through Him. Life in the Spirit is the only life free of this fear because “I no longer live but rather, Christ lives in me” (Romans 8: 9-11 and Galatians 2:20).

There’s not much more to say, is there? All the people of the world seek ways to stay alive. The Christian knows the answer is to die. The world fears death because it is the final loss of control. Christians know dying is the only control we have. It’s everything upside down. Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. Everybody who wants the presence of the Lord knows that dying is the only way to get there.

Topical Index: fear, yare, Genesis 3:10, Psalm 51, Romans 7:24, Romans 8:9-11, Luke 12:20, dying, Psalm 27:1

Want to see the Homosassa River?  click here