The Reason Why (2)
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 43:1b NASB
Redeemed – gealtika. “I have redeemed you,” says God. The only reason that I am free of the “thou shalt fear” world is that God rescued me. I need this fact to sink deeply into my soul. Whenever my thoughts and behavior begin to push me back toward the world of fear, I need to shout, “God has redeemed me! Who can overturn the work of the Lord?”
Does this mean that I will not go through trials? Does it mean that I will never suffer? Does it mean that all my efforts will succeed or that I will always be healthy and happy? Absolutely not! To entertain such a view of life is to still reside in the world of fear. Why? Because aspiring for these results is to assume that life is defined by the opposite of fearful consequences. I fear trials so I want a life without them. I fear suffering so I look for a life of ease. I fear failure so I hope for constant success. I fear illness so I project a life of health. I fear unhappiness so I dream of constant ecstasy. When I measure my life by these things, I tacitly endorse the fear-based view of existence. I still define life in terms of fear. I just want to be on the other side of all my fearful projections. I am a fear-contrarian. But the baseline of my existence is still defined by my fears.
When I am redeemed, life may come at me as it wills. God is always in control. When I am redeemed, my existence is no longer determined by the condition of my finances, my body, my neighborhood, my work or my external situation. When I am redeemed, I belong exclusively to God. His will for me becomes the source of my joy, my jubilance, my fulfillment and my victory. What happens to me does not matter. I have been freed from it all because He acted as my kinsman redeemer. To be free of fear is to be free of the consequences of life’s choices. I follow Him. What happens is not my concern.
What is the basis of your living? Are you free from the real bondage of fear? Can you stand up and say, “Not my will but yours be done,” knowing that everything is in His hands? Do you measure success in your life by obedience or are you trying to manage the possible consequences of fear through your own efforts?
Look at that face in the mirror again. What do you see? Do those eyes reflect confident submission or is there still a shadow of “what will happened tomorrow?” in the corners?
Topical Index: fear, redeem, ga’al, kinsman, Isaiah 43:1
Skip, thank you for all that you personally have invested in this “eureka moment.” When I was told 30 years ago that fear was sin, I was incredulous. Sin was evil behavior; fear was my “normal” reaction to that evil. You are really very skilled at flipping tables! I wonder if it’s easier to climb the “fear mountain” or try to blast a tunnel through it. Maybe it’s just too scary to even go near it. Maybe I could find someone who already has conquered that mountain and would be willing to guide me. My mirror tells me I’ve been a valley girl for too long!
But there is no mountain to conquer. That is a statement based in a fear view. What lies before us is a long climb, a pathway up, a gentle incline. We only SEE it as fearful if we think in terms of our inabilities, but God would not put you on a path you could not walk. He has faith in US! All we need do is step forward and discover He was right.
Ah, it’s easy to say, isn’t it? But then there’s the doing. If I let myself dwell on the fearful, the world will cooperate and give me lots to be afraid of. But if I say, “God put me hear so that I could step forward,” then I stop thinking about the “ultimate end” and just realize that one step forward IS faith.
Theresa,
I lived a fear-based life, determined by childhood disaster. My world looked completely out of control. I performed for love, and fear haunted me. I exhibited a lot of stress disorders. The Hebrew view of a person is that there isn’t any difference between spirit, mind and body. They are but different manifestations of one reality. Which means that what goes down in one is going down in the others. If I live stress, my body will react.
When I realized fear was a sin, then I saw my key to freedom. I repented for every fear I could find, and then repented for the hidden fear, too. My stress disorders disappeared! 38 years of chronic fatigue went away with one prayer of repentance for fear, drivenness and performance. Back disc resolved, all my womb issues left, particularly the immune problems in general, very low blood pressure, thyroid, extreme adrenal disorder, you name it. Some of these melted away as my mind got renewed, but the blessings came a lot faster than the devastation did!
The years I tried to deal with fear were a disaster. But sin is not something we have to ‘deal’ with. Sin is something to repent of. Name those fears, find the promises that combat them, stand on the promises, and REPENT. Same goes for all other mindsets I know that Yeshua would not be thinking. Simple. It is sin that is so hard. Repent and be healed is the message of the Gospel. I hide behind my Saviour and HE deals with it! Halleluah!
Hi Teresa read your comment, I think fear is not having enough Faith in our heavenly father, he told us in his own words, TEHILLIM 111:10, that the fear of “YAH” is the beginning of wisdom
True, He said that, but “faith” isn’t some kind of quantity of spiritual liquid that I gather and store. Faith is simply doing what He says even if I think it is impossible. Faith is ACTION, not cognition. Understanding following doing.
Living like a free man. Going the second mile and turning the other cheek. These are the acts of someone who can over-ride the natural impulse with a conspicuous act of freedom.
I might not be a very fearful sort… but I sure argue with God about things I want and don’t want! (Can a person argue with Someone Who never argues back?)
Of course you can argue with someone who does not argue back, but that wouldn’t include God. He often argues with men and women as many stories in Scripture attest. A good debate is a heavenly thing.
Fear should have no part in my life, and yet it does. I turn away from fear, that is, repent, but fear keeps coming back, in particular at night when I can’t sleep. Fear is very disrupting. I know, that is, I mentally agree with, that I have been redeemed. I have been bought back from slavery to sin, including fear as one of those sins. I am now a willing slave of God, doing whatever He asks of me. I love and trust my creator. As God’s “slave-servant” I know He takes care of all my needs. So what is my problem? During the day I have no fear, or at least not much, but at night anxiety overwhelms me.
I struggle with fear. Two and a half years ago after having my third baby, I got incredibly sick and was admitted to the hospital, bordering on septic shock. If that wasn’t enough, they discovered a heart defect (unrelated to the infection) and I needed heart surgery. All of this within the first six weeks postpartum! The pain, the sickness, the very real possibility of dying, and knowing I would leave behind a baby who would never remember me… it did a number on me and I have never been able to stop living in the shadow of that event.
I feel that God was with me through it all, and it’s one of a few times in my life that I’ve survived or prevailed against the odds. I don’t call that luck. I call that a blessing. 🙂
But… the fear. It’s still with me. I have thought of it as a sin, for sure. But somehow it has never occurred to me that it’s something God can redeem and release me from. He can help me with this. He will help me. He has to, because I can’t conquer it on my own. I have something new to pray for!
I so understand how you feel Alicia. After writing my post, I kept thinking about my fear. Early this morning I had a short dream, and in this dream I needed.to care for a baby (possibly my son who is now 18), and I had all this stuff to carry as well to get to safety. I couldn’t take everything I needed, things kept falling, and I felt life was out of control. I think this may have something to do with my everyday concerns, fighting with stage four cancer and leaving a child with no parents, maybe even the feeling of leaving a child who has minimum of knowledge of God. Yet in all of this I know I need and want to live without fear. I’m also afraid that I’ll miss want God wants me to do, so I try to do it all. And we can’t do it all, can we?