Afraid

AN INVITATION for 2005

Many subscribers to At God’s Table have written to me over this last year asking that I examine a verse that is special to them.  As I look forward to the third year of Today’s Word, I invite you to send me a verse that you would like to see included in 2005.  If God moves, I’ll do my best to shine some light on the verses you would like to see.  Thank you.

“Do not be afraid any longer”  Luke 8:50

Afraid – Jesus was a very perceptive person.  He understood that emotional hurdles prevent spiritual growth.  He knew that human beings are particularly subject to fears.  We are afraid of what might happen tomorrow.  We are afraid of the uncontrollable environment.  We fear harm.  We fear death.  We even fear ourselves.  Fear is a huge part of our lives.  Just think about all the times that Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid”.  When the disciples were in the boat, when the women met him in the garden, when Jarius heard his daughter was dead, when he walked on the water, when the disciples experienced the Transfiguration, when they started toward Jerusalem, when they left the empty tomb.  Fear sinks the anchors of despair into the soul.  And Jesus knew that unless he dealt with fear first, we would never be able to hear his words of freedom.

English retains the Greek word here.  It is phobos.  We find it combined with many other words like acrophobia and claustrophobia.  It means, “to flee from in terror”.  Fear incites us to run away.  We simply cannot embrace the truth if the only thing we want to do is run.  So, God has to deal with fear before He can deal with change.

There is an incredibly powerful psychological truth buried here.  Fear prevents growth.  If I want a deeper relationship with God, I must let Him deal with my fears.  To do that, I must absorb the fact that my life, every single part of it, is under His authority and within His control.  My fears are those parts of who I am that have not yet connected to the sovereignty of God.  A fear is an idol that says, “I am more powerful than God”.  A fear is my denial that God is in charge.

Jesus came to strip the world of its idolatry, to clean the house of its false gods.  To do this, he fought demons, lies and spiritual bondage.  He also denounced fear.  Fear is the lesser god of belittling the Creator.  The greater God speaks to every fear:  “Do not worship at that altar”. 

Today, look hard at your lesser gods.  What do you put on the altar of belittling the Creator?  Jesus comes to you and asks, “Why were you afraid?”