Dictated by Fear

“Fear is dictating trading right now,” said the reporter regarding the stock market. Though this was a newscast toward the end of February 2009, no doubt as you read this there are new things to fear. While some of these issues are real and need to be dealt with, most important is how we handle the fears that encroach upon us.

Look again at those six words the reporter spoke. Many who were dealing in the stock market were being controlled by an emotion. It implies reasoning was given a lower priority than feeling.

The dictatorship of fear has its way in the lives of many people. Bowing to this dictator can lead to various negative consequences.

One time that I had bowed to this dictator was when we were pastoring in Flintstone, Maryland. It was the mid 1980’s and the area had lost a number of businesses, so people had moved away. Our attendance dropped as did our finances while bills increased. Out of fear I decided to cease sending in the monthly support for foreign missions.

As a result, money became even tighter. After I heard God tell me I had made an error, I resumed our giving to missions, and the church began to prosper once again.

Additional lessons can be learned about bowing to fear by reading the accounts of some people in the Holy Bible.

Abram and Sarai Jeopardized Others

We read in Genesis 12:10-20 that Abram’s wife, Sarai, was a beautiful woman. When moving to Egypt, Abram got the notion that his wife was so beautiful that someone might kill him so they could have his wife. So Abram told Sarai to tell others she was his sister. This had an element of truth to it for she was his half-sister. However, it hid the most important fact: they were husband and wife.

The fame of Sarai’s beauty rapidly spread upon their arrival. Once Pharaoh heard of it, he had to see for himself. Plagues soon came upon the household of Pharaoh and he realized that Sarai was Abram’s wife. He rebuked Abram for his lie and sent him out of Egypt. The couple later had an encounter with Yahweh Who changed their names to Abraham and Sarah.

Despite the trouble he incurred in Egypt, Abraham still had not learned his lesson about bowing to fear, for later he traveled to Gerar where he repeated the lie (Genesis 20).

Once King Abimelech of Gerar learned of Sarah’s beauty, he desired her and took her into his household. That night God came to him in a dream and told him, “Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.”

However, because Abimelech took Sarah in innocence and returned her to Abraham, he was spared from death. Still, the Lord sent sterility to his household until the matter was completely rectified.

Abimelech chided Abraham for his lying. Abraham had placed innocent people in jeopardy by yielding to fear.

Victory Delayed, Death Prevails

Others were also controlled by fear and duly suffered the consequences. One of the most pitiful situations was when the entire nation of Israel, except for Moses, Joshua and Caleb, succumbed to a frightening report by ten of twelve men who had been sent to spy in Canaan (Numbers 14:1-5). The vast majority of the Jews were crippled in their courage, took on a defeatist mentality, and refused to advance to the Promised Land.

As a result, that entire generation, except for Joshua and Caleb, wandered in the wilderness for forty years until they all died. Moses also died without entering Canaan, for he, most likely partly out of fear, refused to obey God Who had told him to speak to a rock that it might bring forth water, striking it twice with his rod instead (Numbers 20:8-12).

The Ravages of Fear

In the more than fifty years I have lived I have seen marriages in turmoil, people struck with illnesses, others making wrong choices with devastating results and more because people bowed to fear. In my early years as a Christian I battled major depression which was often fed by fear.

There is always something to fear. From the time I was a child to the present there have been many frightening developments in the world such as, but most certainly not limited to, nuclear warfare, the gasoline shortage of the 1970’s, AIDS, the foolishness of Y2K when most computers were supposed to crash, the terrorist attack on the USA in 2001, Avian Flu, and, of course, global warming.

Fear is indeed a harsh dictator, controlling, corrupting, crippling and even killing. Fear will grow to behemoth dimensions as we near the return of Jesus Christ. He, Himself said in Luke 21:26 men’s hearts will be “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

The Remedy for Fear

While that verse sounds frightening in and of itself, if we examine it more closely we would see that the phrase, “looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” suggests that we need to take our eyes off of earthly matters and place them squarely upon the spiritual and eternal.

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A classic example is the time when Peter was able to walk on storm tossed water because he stepped out of the boat in faith at the Lord’s bidding and fixed his eyes upon Christ. If you are familiar with the account, you know that the moment he stopped looking at Jesus and focused upon the wind and the waves he began to sink.

So, it behooves us to get our minds off of the world which we see, and focus upon the eternal, the unseen, so we may be able to think clearly to handle the real concerns that cross our path.

In and of ourselves that is extremely hard to do. However, if we truly and totally commit and submit to Christ, by faith embracing all Who He is, His peace, will find a lodging place within our soul. It will grow as we grow in Him, and increase to the point where it becomes the giant and fear is beaten down to the size of a midget.

Consider Proverbs 29:25: “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”

Faith in God through Christ is the opposite of fear, and the strength we need to press on. Faith will liberate us from the dictatorship of fear, and grant us the clarity of mind to deal the challenges we face in this world.

This faith is more than a mere belief, but as stated above, a reliance upon and a full commitment to, Jesus Christ. It needs to be nurtured by us feeding upon the Word of God, worshiping and obeying God. As we do so, God will lovingly guide us. Consider the case of Gideon where God led him away from fear to the point where today he is one of the most famous Jewish judges.

Though you may face a mountain of fear, understand that the Creator Himself is near, waiting for you to embrace all that He is. Think of the numerous times Christ said, “Fear not.” Cherish verses such as John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is an open invitation to flee from the dictatorship of fear and relax in the embrace of Christ.