Please do not feed the fears!

“Please do not feed the fears.”

  For the most part, I sleep much better than I used to. As a pre-teen, we lived in a neighborhood that was deteriorating. Burglaries and other crimes were becoming increasingly common. There was a sense of anxiety in the air. Our house was a large two story one with five bedrooms, two of them were downstairs. Someone could be downstairs and no one would know.  

   After my Mom died, it was not unusual for my Dad to either come home very late or not come home at all. Sometimes when my sisters and I would come home, we would let our large dog go in first to roam around. We were afraid someone might have broken in and be in our house, unbeknownst to us. One Friday night, for some reason I was all alone. My Dad called me in a stupor, letting me know that he wasn’t coming home. I think I was maybe 12 and I became terrified. I remember getting his shotgun out of his closet and laying it on the bed next to me as I slept. While I didn’t even know how to use it, it gave me comfort to know that I had some way to potentially protect myself if needed.

  Then, after our son, Ben, began having seizures, I found I had difficulty sleeping, often rushing into his room at the slightest odd noise, anxious that Ben might have a seizure in his sleep. It didn’t help that shortly after Ben was diagnosed with epilepsy, I was asked to do a funeral for a special needs young man who’d choked to death in the midst of a seizure.

  Fear is a trespasser! It’s the one emotion that’s not part of our original design. Fear is not what it means to be made in the image of God. It was only after our first parents had sinned, disobeying God’s one command that we find the word “fear” in Scripture (Genesis 3:10). Sin opened the door to our greatest enemy, Death, and with it, fear. Ever since sin contaminated this world, people have struggled with fear. Essentially, you will find we all fear the same basic things.

  We are afraid of circumstances. Try as hard as you will, you cannot control your life or your circumstances. William Ernest Henley was all wet. We are not “masters of our fate or captains of our soul.” None of us can control our circumstances. Why is it that insurance companies seem to never downsize but build larger facilities? This world, this life is the domain of the out of control and unexpected. Every day people get up, go to work…never expecting they will be the fatality clogging up the freeway, but someone will be. Someone is in a doctor’s office or emergency room right now, receiving a diagnosis they never expected, and their life will be forever changed. Most of us don’t expect to be laid off or to receive a pink slip. We don’t expect the car to break down. The list is endless. As a result, we become anxious about our circumstances. Because we cannot control our circumstances, many live in anxiety. Contemplating on your lack of control over your circumstances increases your anxiety levels. They will appear to grow larger, you will feel smaller, and your faith and vision of God will be clouded. Are you living in fear of your circumstances?

  We are afraid of others. What is it about us? If you walk into a room, two people are talking…if one or both of them glance at you and begin whispering, or worse, begin giggling…we assume it’s about us. Most of us fear that if others really knew us, even the ones we love and are loved by, that they probably wouldn’t even like us. It’s the fear of others that causes us to let ourselves be manipulated, surrendering who and what we are. It’s the fear of others that makes us clingy and insecure. We become over-sensitized to the opinions of others and find ourselves unable to be who God has called us to be. Everyone around you, even believers, still struggles with indwelling sin. Because of sin relationships are messy. People will hurt you; you will hurt them. They will demand of you what they shouldn’t demand and respond to you in ways they shouldn’t respond. Some, particularly those who are either influential and/or vocal in our lives, will loom larger than they should in our thoughts and motives. Rather than living for the glory of God, we’re tempted to work for their approval. The fear of man is a boogey man in our souls. Are you living in fear of others?

  We are afraid of the future. All of us live in the difficult place of not knowing the future. As believers, we’re to live by faith. God’s will is for us to trust, obey and believe that God will guide and provide. It’s a lot easier to say that than it is to do. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We’re not even certain what the next moment may bring, let alone next year. Security will never be found in some vain attempt to plan, to figure it all out or attempt to peek into the future either via a psychic or seeking to ascertain the secret will of God. God’s secret will (Deuteronomy 28:29) is a secret because it’s in our Father’s sovereign hand. Yet we still desire to know, to figure things out ahead of time. The more you focus on the future, the more you’ll contaminate your heart with a sense of dread. On top of that, the more you’ll be confused and de-motivated in the here and now.

  Not knowing isn’t easy. Anyone with children has experienced the difficulty of a child not knowing what’s going to happen on Christmas, which usually results in a sleepless night for both the parents and the child.

  We find questions of the future hard to deal with because we find it difficult to trust God. Yet, the One we’re to trust knows everything about the future because He controls every aspect of it. Our fear of the future exposes our struggle to trust Him, and in trusting Him, to rest in His love, guidance and care, even though we don’t know what comes next. 

  Four times in the nativity account of the Savior we find these two words, “fear not.” It’s not a part of the Christmas story we typically think about.

  Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at those “fear nots.” You’ll find they intersect with our own lives and experience of what we fear. 

  As the Father sent His Son to free us from sin, He sent Him to free us from fear. Please join us each Sunday during this Christmas season as we together learn to live more and more in God’s wonderful “fear not,” that peaceful place of “No Fear” our Heavenly Father wants for each of us. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.