Don’t be afraid

[puddleglum]

When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 20:1 ESV

When the Israelites invaded Canaan they faced enemies who were stronger than they were. They won only because God helped them.

Israel was a nation and like any other nation it sometimes waged wars with other nations. The church isn’t a nation but is a body of people from all nations who have put their faith in Jesus Christ. Because we aren’t a nation we don’t have an army and we don’t engage in physical wars but we are involved in warfare of a different kind.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 ESV

We don’t practice the same kind of warfare Israel did but we do have one thing in common. We can become afraid if we let our mind dwell on how strong our enemies are. And the enemies we face are very strong.

We live in a society which no longer acknowledges that human life is valuable because we are made in God’s image. Mothers are allowed to kill their unborn babies and suicide is considered by many to be a basic human right.

The belief that marriage is a God-given institution has been abandoned. Most people see nothing wrong with engaging in sexual acts outside of marriage or of a “marriage� between two people of the same sex.

God is no longer regarded as the Creator. The belief that the earth and all the life in it developed gradually over millions of years is taught in our schools as if it were a fact and scientific evidence that contradicts it is ignored. This belief is so pervasive that even some Bible believers accept it and try to reconcile it with the Bible by saying that the first chapter of Genesis is not to be interpreted literally.

There are false cults and religions that teach lies and there are even teachers who profess to be Christians but who teach doctrines that are contrary to the Bible.

There are many places in the world where it is illegal to teach the truth of the Bible and Christians can be imprisoned and even killed.

If we spend time thinking about these things it is easy to be afraid. God told the Israelites that the antidote to fear was to remember that he had delivered them from Egypt. When we are afraid we need to remember that God has delivered us from something worse than Egyptian slavery.

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14 ESV

An incident in the life of Peter shows the necessity of looking at God rather than at our circumstances.

And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!� and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.�

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.� He said, “Come.� So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
Matthew 14:25-29 ESV

What Peter did was absolutely impossible but he was able to do it because he was obeying the command of Jesus. Then something happened to change things.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.� Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?�
Matthew 14:30-31 ESV

When Peter stopped looking at Jesus and begin looking at his circumstances he became afraid and the laws of nature asserted themselves and he began to sink. The same thing will happen to us if we pay more attention to our circumstances and to the strength of our enemies than we do to Jesus.

[Wissing]

theophilus, I appreciate the time you took to make that post. It's so easy to get discouraged.

I agree, there are all sorts of ways the world is crumbling around us. Several years ago, I started coming to forums like this (actually I explored an atheist forum and a Christian forum before I found this site), and found some serious challenges to my faith. Most of these relied on things called "evidence" or "science" that weren't remotely close to real evidence or science - but I believed them without even testing it, because "why would they lie?" It's insane. There are all sorts of ways misleading information gets out there[1]. I've been duped so many times. It really is a battle! For us, it's not a battle of swords but of information.

In the age of the internet, it is very easy to believe that Man is omniscient, that Man can save itself. There is so much "knowledge" out there - each of us has access to worlds of information that our predecessors could never have imagined. With all this information, it's so easy to believe that I don't need God, that I can save the world myself. But if I believe that, I never get up out of my chair. I sit here brooding and arguing with people I don't even know, talking about how to solve the problems of the world (or most often, how to destroy things that are deemed "oppression"), without actually solving those problems.

It's not that easy. Sure, there's plenty of information out there, but it's so diluted by nonsense that it's impossible to tell who the "experts" really are. Is it the ones with the best-formatted studies? The most prestigious institutions? The most letters in front of their name? The most professional-looking websites? How can I test [2]something that can only be read about, not experienced? How can I know the fruits [3] of these sources of information? And yet, many, many of our brothers and sisters will fall in this battle.

But God is good, and God is strong. Thank heavens, it's not up to me to save people. I need not understand it all [4]. I need not fight this fight on my own, with only my own mind and my own strength. If God intended for chaos to reign forever, he would not have created us in the first place. Just because I don't understand it doesn't mean there's not a purpose to all of this.




[1] http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/2 ... goes-wrong
[2] 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21: "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
[3] Mattew 7: 15-16: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"
[4] Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight"