Don’t Wallow, Follow – Fear God, Not Man
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end.’ (Psalm 48:14)
Some now live in fear and trepidation in our nation over recent events. School and church shootings, political assassinations of pundits, protests and riots in our streets; these are not new as these things occur in other areas of our world, and have happened since the beginning of man’s fall in Genesis 3, but the levels of violence that we see in America today are unfamiliar to many of us.
The past fear of COVID kept many from returning to church, and the current fear of shootings keep many more home. Though God, through His words of ‘Be courageous, fear not!’ ring through the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, God’s Word written down by Moses) and into Joshua (spoken directly to Joshua by God in Joshua 1:9), tells us not be fearful of men, many of us are.
But for the Christian, it is not for us to fear and cower in our homes or avoid public spaces. Instead, we are to trust God in His provisions in either keeping us safe or keeping His promise of providing Eternal life. To stay home or avoid going out is to deny this trust we are to have. This is not to say we are not to use discernment or wisdom in where we go. We should avoid trouble as much as possible, like staying away from political protests or from crowds who are charged up in violent rhetoric. It is rather dumb if we go outside in the middle of the highest winds of a hurricane over us, likewise it is dumb to walk into the middle of protestors who are known to be anti-Christian in their actions and words.
Some confuse ‘what could happen’ with ‘what is happening’. Our church, for example, could very well face such a threat where a person may try to come to cause havoc during a service, that could happen. So far, thankfully, that has not happened, and it may never happen. The fear that it could happen is not reason enough to prevent someone from coming to church. If there is a protest one Sunday morning, and the protestors are beating on cars with bats or pipes, that is an event that is happening and it could be wise to either try to enter the church grounds using another entrance or wait a distance away to see if the local law enforcement comes to quell the situation.
One instance, the possibility, is a potential fear, while the other, an active attack is a realized fear. Both must be confronted with both courage and discretion, and in the trust of the Lord to provide you guidance. Some point to the ‘Pep Boys’ (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo) getting thrown into the furnace, or Daniel being tossed into the lion’s den (both in the book of Daniel) as examples of facing down and ignoring their fears.
But this is not the case; both the ‘Pep Boys’ and Daniel had fear, but they trusted God more. The ‘Boys’ had no illusion that the furnace could kill them, and neither did Daniel with the lions. In both cases, however, they understood their fear of disobeying God was greater than the fear of death by man. In their obedience did they go into what should have killed them. In their obedience God provided the means and the guidance to save them from death, so that His glory and power could be seen by their Babylonian captives and their fellow Israeli exiles.
Psalm 48 is a psalm of praise to our God. It praises God for His protection from hostile forces and God’s omnipotent strength in shielding them. Verse 14 in particular focuses on God’s eternal ability not only to surround us but will also lead us and move us out of trouble in order to protect us. Whenever we are in a time of trouble, God is there! His protection is not like being in a ‘safe room’, however. It is not stationary, where you have to stop and be inactive in order to gain His protection. It’s more like He protects us in His armored car; where He leads us, wherever we go, our Lord is with us.
Even with the Lord’s protection, could we be injured or killed? There are many examples of Christians who have been attacked and some have been martyred for their Faith. Again, it must be said that they feared disobeying God more than what men could do to them. At the Columbine High School shootings in April 1999, a young Christian girl, named Cassie Bernall was asked by one of the two shooters if she truly believed in Jesus; she said ‘yes’, and was then shot and killed by the shooter. She did not deny Christ, in a tragic yet courageous example of fearing disobedience of Him over the fear of death. I pray that we, including myself, will be so courageous should we be faced with a similar situation.
As we move around and enjoy our ‘normal, everyday’ life; going to church, eating at restaurants, shopping for goods, visiting friends & loved ones; the Lord is with us and will be with us. We cannot cower in fear, like the Jews did when facing Goliath. We need to know that God is with us and like David trust in Him to face our potential Goliaths in our lives, in Faith. Move forward, use the common-sense precautions that our Lord gave us, but be courageous and go forth! Our Lord is Eternal and always with us!
