Friday, October 23, 2015

I Am Not Afraid.

I’m not afraid.  

I am not afraid of thunderstorms, heights, dogs, or mice.  They are little things that have been known to startle me (barking dogs and thunderstorms) or make me mad (Rodents of all kinds infuriate me! Tiny little home invaders!).  To say that I am afraid of them would be an exaggeration.  

I am not afraid of ISIS or any terrorist domestic or foreign.  They can beware of me. They have guns; I have prayer. They steal life - precious to me because it represents the days I have here to serve my King and his people.  Yet if they steal it, they have only moved the place I am praying from earth to under the heavenly altar (Revelation 6:9-11). 


I’m not afraid of getting old.  I’m simply accumulating wisdom and the free time to share it. 

I’m not afraid of “the direction our country is headed.”  I’m saddened by many things including the immorality and hardness of heart I see all around me.  I’m also saddened by those who hawk terror as a way to make a profit, win an election or get more shares on Facebook.  Nevertheless I am a part of a different Kingdom, one that is unshaken and unshakeable.

I am not afraid of the past.  It is, for the good or ill, behind me.  Neither yesterday’s sins nor yesterday’s virtue mean anything today.  Today I must fight the good fight.  Today I am not growing weary in well doing.

I am not afraid of losing my salvation.  It was bought at a terrible price, and the only way I could “lose” it would be to reject God, give up on His Son, insult His Spirit, and turn my back on His body.  I know that this is possible, just like it would be possible for me to turn into an ax murderer.  I am not, nor will I ever be, an ax murderer. I’m not turning my back on God either. No way.

I’m not afraid of Satan.  I’m wary (he’s described as a roaring lion after all), but the roar is empty.  God defeated death, Satan’s tool, by raising his son. Jesus sat down at God’s right hand, the reigning King of all creation, stealing away the dominion of the Prince of the Power of the Air.  And when the last trumpet sounds, Satan will be relegated to his rightful place in Hell. Satan was and is defeated.   As for me, when I was raised to a new life in the Son, I was redeemed from my old master and set free to love and follow my new one.  Satan is defeated in me as well. 

I am not afraid.  

I have been set free from my slavery to be adopted as a child of God Almighty (Galatians 4:4-6).

And my Father has not given me “a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Instead of fearing, I will seek the kingdom first.  I will come boldly before the throne of God. I will resist sin and embrace holiness.  I will go into all the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  


I am not afraid.

12 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this on target viewpoint. I sometimes feel foolish when fear grips me for instances at a time, when I should remember our Father has already shown our enemy his fate, as well as shown the redeemed our final fate (John 14:1-3).

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    1. Sometimes I have to write these things to remind myself that the things I fret over are silly because as you said, "God has shown our enemy his fate!"

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  2. How good it is to remember that God is in control and that we do not have to fear. I love this!

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    1. Thanks Brittany. Our culture is very fearful right now both inside and outside of the church. And I think it is not something that Christians need to participate in! We overcome!

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  3. We were discussing this in our Ladies' Bible class a couple weeks ago. Our topic was God is an Awesome God. The Hebrew word that can be translated awesome or terrible is also often used as a verb in phrases like "fear the Lord your God.." or "do not fear..." I found it interesting that the same word was used to describe the fear/respect/awe that we should give to God as well as the fear/respect/awe we are NOT to give to things of this world. Realizing that the Lord is bigger than any thing this world has - because He created all - means that everything else is small and cannot hurt us, unless we allow it. Satan, even though we are warned about him and need to be wary, is smaller than God and we should remember that. There is one thing we should fear - falling into the hands of the living God (Heb. 10:31)! Matt. 10:28 "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." I like the Veggie Tales song, "God is Bigger than the Boogie Man" because it invokes this idea. :) Thanks for a great article!

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  4. Angela, I LOVE that Veggie Tales song! And I had no idea about the Hebrew connection! I'll have to do some research about that. You know in this whole article I did not talk about fearing the Lord. Maybe it needs a sequel.

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  5. This is beautiful, Helene. I really need to soak it in, because I struggle with fear. Thank you for sharing. Blessed to be neighboring you this morning at Good Morning Mondays. ((blessings))

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  6. Do not be afraid for I have redeemed you.
    I have called you by your name.
    You are mine (Isaiah 43:1-5)

    God bless.

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  7. Love this! Thanks for sharing, and for linking up with Grace & Truth this week! God bless,
    Jenn

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  8. Wonderful!!! I am not afraid...or as the Word says, "What time I AM afraid, I will trust in thee..." and that is what you have learned, to give your fears to an Almighty God!! Beautiful words. ♥

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    1. That's it exactly! It's not that I am naturally courageous but that I have such an amazing God on my side that there is really nothing worth fretting over!

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  9. What an encouraging post! Thanks so much for sharing at Artful Homemaking!

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