Whom Shall You Fear?

Whom shall you fear?

In this crazy world and in light of recent events in Paris, San Bernardino and Brussels many would answer the question above with ISIS.  Yet others who are wrapped up in a crazy political season in the USA might answer the name: Trump, Clinton, Sanders or Cruz.   Would you cower before a giant bent on destroying you, while promising to cut off your head?  What about an illness in you or perhaps one of your little children?   How about losing your job?  Would the threat of losing your income cause you to panic?  Are any of these powerful enough to cause you to fear?  Should you fear any of these?  What about the God of the Bible?  Do you fear Him?  Should you fear Him?  Let’s look at this closer and consider the Word of God.  Perhaps then we’ll be able to have peace in a world full of chaos.  Perhaps then we can learn Whom to fear and when.

Should you fear ISIS?  If you did, you’d be in the majority.  The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are a group of radical muslim’s who desire to kill all infidels and to them America is the main enemy.  They want nothing more than to destroy us as they attempt to take over the world.  They are bad news and no one to be trifled with.  Respecting their strength and capabilities is wise, but to fear them is something no one needs to do.  I’ll explain why in just a bit, after I consider the other questions.

Some in America are caught up in a political frenzy.  They fear Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders or even Ted Cruz as if one of them win the presidency of the United States they’ll be worse than our incumbent president Obama.  I’ve heard rhetoric comparing several of the candidates to Hitler.  I can understand to a certain point, because I was once terrified when Obama was elected.  I didn’t have a proper perspective and thought Obama’s election was a sign the end was near and the Lord would return at any moment.  I was afraid of what would happen because I wasn’t thinking straight.

Would you cower to a giant who mocked you, and came at you with all he had?  Certainly bullies today take all shapes and attack those who they perceive as weak.  Once a giant threatened an army using intimidation and they were terrified because he was a giant among warriors.  He ridiculed them, belittled their God and challenged them to a duel to the death.  His name was Goliath and even the mightiest warrior and King of Israel feared him.  A small boy who had faith in God was the only one willing to stand up to that giant.  You can read about that in 1^st Samuel Chapter 17.  Where many feared, one had faith, faith not in himself, but in God.  David was on to something and we’ll look closer at that in a moment.

My daughter was just sick.  In fact she was very sick and in the PICU for a week.  Others I know have dealt with even worse, cancer, heart issues, chromosome disorders just to name a few.  As a parent you hate to see your child suffer.  You can easily get caught up in fear.  Fear of the unknown, fear of what will happen, fear that your child can die.  Is this fear rational?  Is this fear sin?

Recently some close to me have lost their jobs.  As a manager I have had the distinct unfortunate duty to let a person go.  It is never easy, never fun and always serious business.  The question always comes, “what do I do now?”  It’s a gut wrenching time.  Fear for many sets in as they start to ponder how they will pay their bills, provide for their family and sustain their self worth.  Is the fear of not having a job, nor a source of income a justifiable fear?  Doesn’t the Bible teach us in Matthew 6 :26-31 not to worry about how we will be provided for?

²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

We’ll come back to that chapter of the Bible in a minute, as it has more to say that we can use to conclude this conversation.  The problem with fear is we fear the wrong things, the wrong people and give them far too much credit in our own minds.  Consider the story of Job.  We learn from Job a few valuable lessons.  First we learn that the devil himself is not able to hurt Job without the permission of God in Job 1:9-12

⁹ Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

¹⁰ Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

¹¹ But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

¹² And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

Not only isn’t he allowed to hurt Job, once given permission to hurt him, he is only allowed to go as far as God allows.  So initially he is allowed to hurt his family and possessions but not the health of Job, and then a bit later he is given permission to hurt him physically but not allowed to kill him.  Job teaches us that God is in control of everything.  Satan wanted to kill Job but he wasn’t allowed to.  Job feared God, not satan and Job was right.  Why should we fear someone, anyone who can hurt us only if God allows?  We shouldn’t.  But why would Job fear God?

Recently I finished reading the book of Judges.  It’s a good Book to use to help me illustrate my conclusion on why the only one we should fear is God Himself.  Consider the people of Israel who would cyclically lean on God, follow God, fall away from God and ultimately repent as they desired to be freed from the penalty of their sin.  It’s a pattern we see over and over from the time they leave Egypt as they wandered through the desert and then even as they entered the promise land.  Continuing that pattern under the rule of the Judges before they were given a king, the people would sin, and the Lord would wax hot.  Examples can be found:  Judges 3:8, 3:12, 4:1-2, 6:1, 10:6-7, 13:1 which the children of Israel found themselves in submission to many different people groups, namely:  Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites, Midianites,  and Philistines.  Were the children afraid of their captures?  Did they fear what would be done to them?  Did they fear how or if they would survive?  What is clear is they didn’t fear the Lord.  Since they kept forgetting Who God Is, and what God had done, they kept repeating the cycle of falling away from the Lord.  They had no need to fear anyone on the planet or any condition but they didn’t recognize that.  When all was well, they would fall away from the Lord and worship idols, follow other man made religions.  God allowed the people groups mentioned above to capture and rule over the Israelites because they left Him.  He was catching their attention via these rulers.  The Israelites would ultimately repent time and time again after they were captured and God would show them time and time again that He was in control.  How soon we all forget about God and His power when all seems right in our world.

This is where we are today.  We fear ISIS, politics, illness, bullies and the circumstance of how we sustain ourselves but have in large part forgotten God, His power and His Authority.  I contend if we would just get people to read the Word of God, understand what it actually says and follow the One God sent, we’d be much better off.  We should fear God because He is the only one who can condemn us to Hell.  We read that after we die, we will all be judged in Hebrews 9:27.  How will God judge you will depend on what you did when you were alive, namely did you believe in Him or not.  Revelation 20:12-15 says:

¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

God is the only one you should fear.  No one can hurt you that God doesn’t allow to as we learned about in the Book of Job example above.  No one can send you to Hell but God Himself.  Satan is not in control.  Even satan will go to Hell as you can read about in Revelation 20:10:

¹⁰ And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Satan will not rule Hell.  Satan is condemned to the same fate as everyone else who is sent there, namely eternal damnation, suffering and separated from God without end.  Don’t let your ignorance or what the world would have you believe taint your view of reality.

What we believe doesn’t make something true.  Truth is not relative either.  The truth is fear of anything but God is a waste of time and energy.  A healthy fear of God can save your life forever.  Once you know God is in control, and that only God will judge you, then you should get straight with Him.  If you will humble yourself, admit you’re a sinner, repent of those sins and ask Jesus to be your Savior because He is the only one who can save you, then God will adopt you into His family.  You will then not be judged for your sins, because God will have forgiven you.  It may seem crazy to fear God and not to fear any of the things I’ve discussed however it is what the Bible teaches.  God wants us to have peace.  We cannot have peace however until we have settled forever by being forgiven of our sins.  I once heard someone say the Bible tells us 366 times to fear not.  That is enough to cover each day of the year, including leap year.  God doesn’t want you to cower in fear.  He wants you to have a healthy fear of Him and faith in Him.  Trust what He has written.  Trust Him for as Jesus said in John 16:33:

³³ These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

 So I’ll leave you with this, if you’ve not given your life to Christ, you should be afraid.  If anything kills you, you will live forever separated from God in Hell.  I strongly urge you to consider your destination and take care of that now by submitting to the will of God.  You can be forgiven right now, simply by believing in Jesus and calling on Him for salvation.  Read Romans 10:9-13:

⁹ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

¹¹ For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

¹² For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 If you have been saved, then fear nothing or no one but God.  Fear that you don’t anger Him like the Israelites used to, so He has to punish you to get your attention.  Remember Matthew Chapter 6?  It concludes this way in verses 32-34:

³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

My friends, may the peace of the Lord be with you, after you trust in Him for salvation.  No one can hurt you without His permission.