Let’s talk about Gods faithfulness. He commands us, “Do not
be afraid. Be strong and courageous.”
Whenever I have fear, I have to stop and ask myself, “Is it
justified?” Fear is an emotion that is
helpful for survival. It’s why we (most of us) don’t jump off buildings, drive
recklessly, pick up snakes, or poke alligators with a stick. A dose of a known fear will keep you safe;
but fear can be manipulated in the mind. Hijacked to pull you into the enemies
clutches, Enslave you.
How is fear used to manipulate you? Glad you asked.
Take the truth. Let’s look at my fear of snakes and walking
in the woods. You tell me a list of
truths:
Some
snakes are poisonous.
Snakes
live in the woods
The
woods have deadly snakes like rattlesnakes and copperheads.
I
encountered a rattlesnake personally in my yard.
Poisonous
snakes can kill you.
All true. Then you add a couple rumors or stories to the
truth. Make it personal. My mind accepted
these stories based on what I already knew to be true.
1)
A little boy was playing in the yard and came across
a nest of baby rattlesnakes and the boy died.
– this story unknown if true but accepted because it fits with the
truths above.
2)
Do you know that they released rattlesnakes in
the area to help the environment? Again, also unverified but accepted by the
mind because I have seen a couple snakes in my yard; so it must be true.
Then in conclusion, my mind creates this scenario… There are
snakes all around me and if I go into the woods, I will get bit and die. That fear kept me out of the woods for a long
time. During my fear of just hiking in
the woods, I turned to looking into things that would protect me from the
snakes. Some high boots or maybe those gator guards that cover from the knee
down or anything that would protect me. But it was all futile because no matter
how protected I felt, the fear was still there.
The real truth here is a fear of death, not snakes. If you
overcome the fear of death, you no longer fear running up on some snakes. You
still wouldn’t pick one up (healthy fear) but you aren’t paralyzed to just walk
in the woods. How do you overcome the
fear of death? Glad you asked again. Jesus tells us.
1)
First, know that what the bible says is
absolutely true. Every word is from the mouth of God. If God spoke it, it will
come to pass and nothing can stand up against it.
2)
Revelation 1:17-18 “… Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the
Last and the Living one. I was dead but look, I am alive for ever and ever and
I hold the keys to death and hades.”
Jesus has the keys to death. Only Jesus is the one who locks and unlocks that door. No one else has that key. If you are needed on earth, it is in his hands; if He calls you home, that only is in His hands as well.
Jesus defeated the fear of death. The destroyer has used that
fear to manipulate people since the beginning of time.
Jesus spent some time telling His disciples about the
kingdom of Heaven. Why did He do that? Because to be bold, strong and
courageous, you can’t fear death. They
needed to know that even if they died spreading the gospel, it wouldn’t be the
end. Even greater things awaited them.
Being absent from the body is being present with the Lord. Paraphrasing 2 Corinthians 5:6-8
You have a purpose here for a little while. Then you will
get to go home. You are an ambassador of the kingdom of heaven in a foreign
land.
So, back to the snakes. With these new truths, God directs my
steps. I go back into the woods and
walked the path a few times. It was fine. No snakes. Thinking about what was
really true and discounting any “stories or half-truths”, I conquered my fear
of walking in the woods. Even though the
character of the snake is true and my encounter of a couple snakes is also
true, I haven’t died of a snakebite. I have walked by two copperheads in the
past and they completely ignored me, that’s true. I also did see one in the field but it bolted
away before I could get a good look at it.
So why? Why am I telling you all this? Welcome to the world today. If you agree with
my snake fear and how to conquer it, say, “Sounds legit”.
Now….. Take that same experience but instead of snakes and
woods, replace it with viruses and my community. Same story,
Luke 10:19 Behold, I have
given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power
of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.
