He could hear his heart beating louder than the voices and the footsteps. As he crouched in hiding behind the cabinet, he was sure they could hear every beat. But with each beat, the soldiers continued to move, and soon he could hear their voices no more. He quickly rose, and found his way quietly to the door, stepping as lightly as he could as he made his way out of the village and into the protection of the land surrounding it..
Touma did not plan on still being in the village as the soldiers arrived, but the Lord’s needs had keep him there. Two hours earlier, a voice in the dark had awakened him. Calling out to him, warning him of the soldiers that would soon raid his village. He did not recognize the voice, but his heart knew the One who spoke. As the village leader, Touma had the care of the village in his hands. Five months earlier, a missionary had introduced Touma to Christ, and Touma soon accepted Christ into his heart. With Christ in his heart, Touma soon found the Lord in his voice. Teaching all in the village the love of Christ, and baptizing each as they proclaimed His name. In a village of forty-two, Christ name was soon declared by all. And as each proclaimed Christ, Touma knew that the village was no longer in the care of his hands, but had been placed in the care of the Lord’s hands.
The voice that spoke told Touma to warn the village, to get all to safety as quickly as he could. Touma quickly sprung into action, going hut to hut, awaken all that night and sending them on their way to safety. As time ran short, Touma got the last family out of the village, and into the security of the night. Forty-one of the forty-two were now safe, only Touma was left as he heard the vehicles of the soldiers approaching. In his rush to get all safe, Touma had forgotten the most valuable item the village had. A Bible given to him by the missionary that had led him to Christ. A Bible that was read for all to hear each day. Each word cherished, each word bringing the village to want to hear more. A Bible the village not only cherished, but did not know how they could ever replace.
Touma hurried to his hut to grab the cherished Bible, but as he gathered it into his hands, he could hear the voices of the soldiers swarming the village. As they crashed they way into each hut, Touma hid behind the only place he could think of, a small cabinet in his home. As he hid, Touma prayed. Not for his own safety, but for the safety of the Bible. He could not imagine the village without all hearing and taking comfort in the Word. As the soldiers entered his hut, he could hear them questioning where everyone was. And as Touma curled in hiding behind the cabinet, he could hear the disgust of the soldiers. Muslim soldiers, who had heard of the village’s recent conversion to Christ. A decision that had secured their eternity, but one the soldiers could not allow to stand on this earth. A decision that would cost each in the village their life if the soldiers had found them. And as village leader, would have cost Touma even more, a persecution that many would consider worse than death.
But as Touma prayed, he could hear the soldiers leaving. Frightened beyond belief, but without fear. Terrified, but without terror. Touma had found his strength, and it was written in each word of the Book he held and cherished.
If someone asked you, “What is the most common command in the Bible?”, what would your response be? Would your answer be one of trust? Would you say it was a command to obey? Or would you answer it was a command of love? The answer is one most would never think of, that few could even guess. “Fear Not” or “Do Not Be Afraid”, is the most common command God gives us. By most accounts, three hundred, sixty-five times, the Bible tells us to not be afraid. Once to remind us each day of the year.
Fear. One of the most basic emotions that fill each of our days. Fear can overwhelm us. Fear can silence us. Fear can influence us. And fear can drive us. From the beginning of recorded history, fear has made its’ presence known. When we read the events that occurred in the Garden of Eden, we see fear there. Although pride was a driving force behind man’s first sin, it was the emotion of fear that is first recorded. After Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree, the Bible tells us that God was in the Garden looking for them. “Then the Lord God called to man and said to him,’“Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.’”(Genesis 3:9-10). Although their rebellion had brought tragedy on them, it was their fear that hid them from the only One who could save them.
Years later, the nation of Israel would also find themselves consumed by the same fear. They found themselves in exile, prisoners at the hands of the Babylonians. Afraid as they were forced from their homes, abandoning their land to be marched into cities they had never seen, captive to a people they did not know. With each step of that march, their fears consumed them. Questions driven by those fears came to their minds. Why had this happened? Had God abandoned them? But their fears blinded them from the fact, God had not abandoned them, they had abandoned God.
So exactly what does the Bible tells us fear is? Is all fear bad? And how should we handle our fears?
The Bible describes fear in two ways. The first, is a way that motivates us and encourages us. The second, is a way that hinders us and restricts us. We often refer to the first as the “Fear of the Lord”, but it is a term that is often misunderstood. Proverbs 8:13 describes this fear as a hate of all evil. Teaching us that to fear God is not to be afraid of God, but to see in ourselves what God stands for. It teaches us to have a respect for God, and to find ourselves in awe of what God does in our lives each day. In this term, we see the blessings and the benefits of serving God, the wisdom and understanding that only God can bring to us(Psalm 111:10), and the life that only He can offer us(Proverbs 14:27).
But as much of a gift as the first is, the second way the Bible describes fear could not be more opposite. The Bible describes this as a “spirit of fear”. A fear that is not from God, but a fear that keeps us from God. Dictionaries describe this fear with words like, afraid, panic, and threatening. I find it much easier to describe in a different way, it is a lack of trust in God. When we trust in the complete power of God, our fears vanish. our fears have no power over us. It is for this reason that Paul tells us, “For God did not gives us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”(2 Timothy 1:7).
Fear, as we know it in the world today, is not from God, but is a powerful tool in Satan’s hands. It builds a wall around us, convincing us that we are helpless. Restricting us from doing the things that God has called us to do. Fear is a word that only knows excuses. Always looking to tomorrow, never allowing us to do all the things God needs us to do today.
We must remember, fear cannot be present where love is(1 John 4:18). God’s love cannot know fear, and Satan will do everything he can to keep fear present so we cannot see and feel the love of God surrounding us. He will use fear to bring us doubts, keeping from us the freedom that God’s perfect love brings us. Our faith and our fears cannot exist together. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. Even when we cannot see it, we know the Lord is in control, working in and through each of our lives everyday. Fear blinds us to that assurance, putting questions in our mind to those convictions. Satan uses fear to grab hold of our emotions, seeking to gain an upper hand on our thoughts. Satan knows that faith is not something we can ever produce ourselves, but is a gift from God. Fear is Satan’s way of setting up a roadblock, looking to keep the Holy Spirit from delivering that precious gift to us. It is for this reason, from Genesis to Revelation, God gives us the encouragement to plow through that roadblock, always reminding us to “Fear not”.
As we look at this world today, no greater two words should we hear each day than “fear not”. With each step, this world will place roadblocks in your way. Roadblocks that play on our fears, that look to make us take pause instead of moving in the direction the Lord would lead us. Roadblocks that look to slow us down, filled with sounds that look to drown out our voice. Roadblocks that carry names of danger and enmity, posting signs at each stop that read with words like bigot, hate, outdated, and ignorant. Words that leave us with only fears of what the world will think of us, instead of driving us to places the Lord needs us. Words that seek to make us forget how His grace has taken us this far, and how His grace will lead us the rest of the way home.
As you hear the words “fear not” this day, do not let your fears drive you.
Do not let fear stop you from saying a single word the Lord would have you say.
Do not let fear stop you from making a single step the Lord would have you make.
Do not let fear give you pause, causing you to not reach out to the hand that the Lord desperately needs you to touch.
And do not let fear convince you to hid your face from the opportunity the Lord has placed in your hands this day. Today, remember those two words, and repeat them often.
And today, give Satan a glimpse of what he should fear.
Be freed by faith, not restricted by fear.
Dr. Mike Murphy
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