Afraid of Something?

Scriptural Readings: I John 4:16-18, Proverbs 9:10, I Corinthians 15:56

It is terrifying what is currently happening today, right? Fear grips us, and as we deal with it, it grows stronger and weakens us spiritually.

Do we fear confronting something? While most of us do, we still have more to face. There are a lot of things that we have to understand with this word called fear. We feel it, but we barely explain it. One thing for sure is that we haven’t come even closer to its meaning. 

Fear is only one of the many things a lot of Christians face. But how do we see and deal with it? For some, it is a burden on them, and for some, it is an adventure. Through our efforts, as usual, a lot of options, of course, will give us now and then on how to confront these fearful situations haunting us. Again, having our way will always result in limited and unreliable outcomes.

I John 4:16-18

King James Version

V.16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

V.17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

V.18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

New Living Translation

V.16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

V.17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

V. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

Fear

Having a grade of an F is the reason students fear the subject they hate, right? Some students hate math because they fear confronting numbers. But the truth of the matter is that actually, the consequences of failure are the culprit. Failure teaches us a lot of things. A second chance is always available. However, there are damages and sometimes are irreversible. 

Why are some people scared of heights? Spiders? Etc. Sometimes we see people working on top of tall buildings, aren’t we the ones who are more frightened of them falling? For some, just the mere mention of the word spider is a spine-chilling moment. Fear is a dreaded word for us. It creates terror within us, forcing us to make poor and powerless decisions in our lives. Fear is just like a virus that creeps into our system and destroys us.

Proverbs 9:10

King James Version

V.10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.

New Living Translation

V.10Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

Godly fear

We all have fears within us. A variety of these fears immobilize us from accomplishing what God wants for us and for us to do. However, there is another kind of fear which is the opposite of human fear. Godly fear. We need godly fear ensuing victoriously in all our fearfulness in life. We look for many things to triumph over every fear in our lives, only to find out that we need only one fear, the fear of God! Fascinating, right?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. In this passage, the meaning of fear is reverence. Fear in Hebrew is ‘yare’ is a primitive root; to fear; morally, to revere. Reverence in noun form tells us a deep respect for someone or something. Its verb meaning is to regard or treat with deep respect. To give reverence, exalt, or think highly of is to fear the Lord. The reason Jesus taught us to pray in a manner of saying, “Holy be your name”! As we revere and exalt Him, we also fear Him. It will produce a relationship between a father and his children. It was the original relationship we had until we rebelled against Him. This relationship will give us knowledge (understanding) of the will of our Father for us.

 

I Corinthians 15:56

King James Version

V.56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.

New Living Translation

V.56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 

Death

There is an old saying that goes, “scares me to death.” We have our meaning, belief, or definition of death. Would one consider that death to be the most mysterious word? There are more things to comprehend behind this word. But if we are going to examine carefully, we might consider that death is not the cause of fear but its consequences.

Yes, death is the culprit. According to the bible, death has its sting (sin). Whether we are in a pandemic, war, or under any circumstances, we tie up ourselves with all kinds of fear. We might not see the actual picture, but the sting (sin) is where the pain is. The bee is just the carrier of the pain. If we think of a venomous snake, the idea of death in a matter of minutes scares us, but the venom containing the toxin these are the materials that will kill us. 

No matter whatever fear we are having, the sting of death will haunt us. Do we have to blame a pandemic, war, or anything that threatens our lives? One day, the fear of death will catch up with us, and its consequences will face us. The real question that we have to ask ourselves is, “When I die, is it heaven or hell?” There are only two things, to be with our Father in Heaven or everlasting life in hell. Even those who want to commit suicide want death to escape the miseries in their lives. Sin is our crime, and it sentenced us to death and a penalty of everlasting damnation in hell. 

We all know it didn’t end here. It was also a death that gave us our salvation. What happened in Calvary reconciled us with our father in heaven. The implications of our Lord Jesus Christ’s death brought about a lot of things for us. It changed everything. We are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. 

As Christians, we must change our point of view of death. We have to focus on the spiritual essence. The spiritual touches entirely our being, yielding with no options left, but that which is right in the sight of our God. Let us now fear who can destroy both our bodies and souls. The meaning of fear becomes different from the fear we know and suffer. From the fear God requires us to do, and that is to revere and exalt Him. Then, and only then, will we come into a full knowledge of what fear and love are all about... “But perfect love casteth out fear.” If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.