The Danger Of Fear

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

The Covid epidemic was not just a viral epidemic. It also brought with it an epidemic of fear. Usually perfectly sane people, when driven by fear from 24 hour cable TV news, and the myriad of rumors that swirled all around covid, they acted insanely.

Here is one horrific example. At the first surge of covid a couple came down with the typical flu-like symptoms and they knew they had covid. The couple got tested, but they knew. In their despair, and what they were sure was their impending death, they took their own lives. A few days after their death the test results came back. They did not even have covid.

Fear is a disease as dangerous as cancer. Fear stirs dread in the human heart, raises anxiety levels, kills hope, brings despair. Suicide is one of the top killers across the world. Fear is a primary ingredient that makes suicide possible.

I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done. Psalm 118:17

As I write this I have the latest Covid variant. And yes, having a fever, extreme fatigue, aches and pains, along with the coughing and sneezing and sleeplessness is no picnic. But I will get better. Despite worst case scenarios that have been painted by those in the media, most people come through Covid just fine and scaremongering doesn’t help anyone.

So what have I learned? Don’t feed your fears! Don’t watch the news 24 hours a day. Their job is to keep you worked up with fear and watching/listening to them. They will always give you the worst case scenario!

Remember covid? Remember all the horrible “facts”? Such as: Don’t wear masks, wear masks, a vaccine won’t be ready for years, we have the vaccine, get the shot but only seniors need to get it, healthy adults don’t need the vaccine, then all adults should get the vaccine, children don’t need the vaccine, children should get the vaccine, etc. I could go on but it was a clown show that brought about the realization that truth was a floating option with the media and could change at a moment's notice if you listened to so-called experts. Sadly, even the government proved they didn’t know what they were talking about much of the time. And all that insanity drove at least two people to end their lives due to fear. Fear of Covid also did countless damage to others.

The real truth for the christian is that even if we find ourselves in a stressful life-threatening situation, or even if the Lord is taking us home–we need not fear.

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Hebrews 2:14-15

So believer, if you find yourself on your deathbed you need not fear. You have the very Spirit of Jesus within you. Angels of God are right there with you. Your heavenly Father is waiting for you to shed your old body and He will give you a heavenly body free of sickness, disease, and death. You will see loved ones who have passed on, and will only be apart from those on the earth for the blink of an eye. What are a few short years on the calendar of eternity?

Fear has no hold and no place in deciding the thoughts and actions of God’s children. When you understand that fear is a tool of the enemy, you will stop embracing it.

Prayer: Dear Lord, deliver us from fear. Fill us with faith and hope so that there is no room for doubt and fear in our hearts. Amen.

Avoiding Clutter

 

“There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. ‘For whom am I toiling,’ he asked, ‘and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment? This too is meaningless–a miserable business!'” Ecclesiastes 4:8

     I watched a documentary about a man who built himself a tiny house. And I learned there is an entire movement around the world of people building and living in tiny houses. Some do it for financial reasons, others for the environment, and some do so to live simply.

     My first reaction to this was: That is insane. How could anyone live in a house of 100-500 square feet? But then I thought about it awhile, and asked myself: Is that any crazier than one or two people living in 3500 square feet homes?

     I have a feeling the Lord would approve of the idea of living simply, and of finding a way to live an uncluttered life. Having a roof over our head, clothes on our back, food in our belly, and a bed to sleep in–what more do we really need?

    Living with illness causes you to continually re-examine the amount of clutter and non-essential items in your life that steal time and energy. We need to live simplified lives. We may not need to move into a tiny house, but we could improve our lives by living small, living simply. Indeed, that would benefit anyone whether healthy or well.

    People living in tiny houses cannot afford clutter. They are limited in their storage space, and must choose carefully what they add to their lives. By living in a tiny house they will never become hoarders, and they will never buy or collect nonessential items.

    We may not live in tiny houses, but we could benefit from their mindset. Do we really need to clutter up our lives with non-essentials? How often could we benefit by keeping things simple, avoiding clutter, and better managing our resources?

    I think everyone could improve their lives by embracing less and avoiding clutter. Quality of life improves when it comes to keeping our lives simple and free of unnecessary burdens.

    Prayer: Dear Lord, help us stay free of clutter and avoid unnecessary burdens. Amen.

God Meets Your Need When You Need It

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:9

 A baby is wholly dependent upon its parents to do everything for it. But as the child grows up, the parents expect that child to do more for itself, from walking to running. As the child becomes an adult the parents are still there, still part of their life, but maturity is the order of the day.

It is the same with us as Christians. God is tolerant of our ignorance and childishness when we don’t know any better. Yet as the years go on if we are still “in diapers'' there is something very wrong with us and our lack of faith and maturity.

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand." — Madeleine L'Engle

God wants us to mature as Christians just as we want to see our children grow up into healthy adults. God’s tolerance and patience is not endless. 

Those of us who have suffered sickness, disease, affliction of any sort over the years have come to depend upon God and hopefully have grown in wisdom and understanding. 

Like a child who wails for all the world to hear when pain enters their life in some form, we too at the beginning of our afflictions wail and bemoan our suffering and the unfairness of it all. But over time we must get beyond our childish reaction to pain and suffering. I do not say that lightly or without regard to just how horrible pain and suffering are in the life of a believer, yet we have a Savior who suffered much, and remained faithful in His suffering.

Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him Hebrews 5:8-9

Christ Was perfect in His suffering. He suffered unjustly, without having done anything wrong. And often we also suffer without having done anything wrong. We can wail and moan about how fate has wronged us, or we can turn to our Lord’s example and never lose sight of the fact that God controls our fate.

No one gets through life without pain and suffering. We are surrounded by turmoil and troubles. Pain is a part of life. How we respond to pain and suffering is up to us. We can react with faith and hope, remembering all that the Lord has already brought us through, or we can go into a fetal position and forget we have a Heavenly Father overseeing the entire universe.

We all depend upon God. But it is time for many of us to get out of our spiritual Depends diaper and grow up in the faith of the Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to remember that although we may have no control over the events in our lives, You are in control of everything. Open our eyes and strengthen our faith as we mature in our walk with You! Amen.