Fear

Brian Charette - July 14, 2021

Fear and the Christian

Fear is like the monster under my kids’ beds — its power is fueled not by what’s really there, but by what might be, what we imagine could be. Fear is a hollow darkness in the future that reaches back through time to rob our joy now by belittling the sovereign goodness of God. – Jonathan Parnell

(Jesus) replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. – Matthew 8:26

Several years ago when he was my pastor, I was interviewing Kerry, your wonderful District Superintendent, and asked him the greatest difference between leading believers now compared with leading them when he first started in ministry. He didn’t hesitate in his answer.

Christians are much more afraid now.

Specifically he said that, as Christians have blurred the line between light and darkness in their lives, and as they have been drawn to the call of a secular culture, fear has slowly and steadily creeped into their lives, such that, for many, it now has a stranglehold. (And he said that before COVID.)

As he spoke I found myself rightly convicted, praying for my own relationship with the Lord and for freedom from fear and thinking about the dozens upon dozens of times someone in Scripture is exhorted to “Fear not.”

The Fear Epidemic

Not too long ago, an article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology came to an eye-opening conclusion: If the average modern day child were to be teleported back to the year 1957, he or she would likely have sufficient anxiety levels to be institutionalized as emotionally disturbed. The average child.

One study indicated that either fear, stress, or the combination of the two, account for more than three quarters of the appointments family doctors see in the typical week. In the same study, secular psychologists studying years of data concluded that, of all of the human emotions, fear has the greatest impact on how we feel about our lives.

We are bathed in fear, fed a steady diet of it from our earliest days, just turn on a television or click on any online news source.

We are prone to wander from the “peace that passes understanding” available in Christ.

The Church

A few years ago, I was teaching at our church’s men’s retreat. These are always the Godliest and strongest men I know, men who have taught me a lot. In one of those “heads-down-eyes-closed” moments, I asked anyone who was experiencing fear to raise their hands. At least 80% responded in a room of about 90 men.

If it’s ever been clear why the Bible so often encourages us to be strong and courageous, and to trust in the Lord, it’s clear now.

Your Answer

You don’t have to be afraid. (Read that again, slowly and carefully.) You can choose courage, which isn’t the absence of fear, but the presence of Godly action in the face of fear.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

                                                                            Philippians 4:6-7 (emphasis added)

There are two possible choices we can make in the Philippians text:

1.     We can be anxious, or

2.     We can pray and petition God with thanksgiving

They are mutually exclusive options available to you right now. Right at this moment. So I invite you to stop, take an accounting of all your fears, then, with gratitude in your heart, ask the Lord to help you. Start casting (and re-casting) any and all fear (1 Peter 5:7) on him. Then, something will happen. Supernatural sentries will take their positions at the gateway to your heart and peace will come. Peace that your heart will welcome, even if your mind doesn’t understand it.

Make your choice.

Fear. Not.

Dr. Brian Charette