Be Afraid part 2
I can't see it. I just can't. There is no scenario where God would want us to be afraid of Him. He's a loving heavenly Father. And no true father wants to rule with an iron fist of fear. He is love. And love casts out, or expells, all fear. There is no fear in love. None. So I guess my question is: What are we so afraid of? Over and over and over in the New Testament Jesus--the true picture of who God is--says, "Fear not." For example, John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." And I think there's a very important key here: Let not your HEART be troubled. Because, as I always quote from Proverbs 23:7, as you think in your HEART so are you. When we begin to understand how important, how central, love is, we will begin to live from the inside-out. From the heart. We will begin to do things because they are in our hearts to do them. Not because we're "supposed" to, or anything like that. Not because the world tells us to--not as the world giveth--but because we know and believe that we are loved by our heavenly Father. Because we have something to give, not because we're trying to get anything. Because we have that peace. The righteousness. And that joy. Which is in the Holy Ghost. Which is the Kingdom of God. When you know who you are, where you are, and why you're here (which is why I wrote the Answer Trilogy) you can live fearlessly. When you know that God IS love and to do anything BUT love would mean He would have to deny His own nature... that's when you can run TO Him instead of running FROM Him. That's when He becomes your safe place. Your refuge. The place where the actually scary things in this world can't get you. Ever since I had a son I started to see everything from a father's point of view. But at the same time, I was able to see things from a son's point of view. And MY son... well, he's super sensitive. He came home from school the other day an absolute wreck because he had accidentally knocked over one of his friends on recess and made them cry. It HURT him to hurt someone else. That's a soft heart. But my point is... when we're small, there's quite a bit to be afraid of. The dark, loud noises, new experiences just to name a few things. And some of that never really goes away. But I know, from the bottom of my heart, that God does NOT want us to be afraid of Him. To continue my father/son theme, the other night Logan asked me if I could promise him that he wouldn't have any bad dreams. And I said, "I can't promise you won't, but I CAN promise I'll be right here with you if you do." And he thought that would be just fine. His heart was no longer troubled. Because he knows that I love him and I've got his back. Kind of like, what the end of Hebrews 13:5 in the NLT says: "...God has said, "I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." The KJV puts it like this, "...I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." That's a promise from the One who CANNOT lie. The One who IS the truth. So we have nothing to be afraid of. Even when it seems scary. But that's where I think I'm headed tomorrow. So for today, peace I leave with you. Let not your heart be troubled, or afraid!