DAILY BYTE
The Bible is only 66 verses old when fear stalks into the Garden of Eden and seizes Adam by the throat. Adam, after eating of the forbidden fruit, is terrified and cries out to God, ‘I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid’.
Ever since that moment, every descendant from Adam has joined in that confession. Fear is a constant threat to us. It robs our life of joy, paralyses our souls and threatens to undermine all our securities.
What are you afraid of? You possibly would not have to search very deeply within to come up with a whole list of things. We can all relate to Mark Twain who once said: ‘The human race is a race of cowards and I am not only marching in that procession, but carrying a banner.’
Or as Cullen Hightower once quipped, ‘We do experience moments that are absolutely free from worry, these brief respites are called panic.’ Or as a stockbroker was once heard to remark during a period of serious instability on the stock market – ‘At night I sleep like a baby. Every few hours I wake up screaming.’
Deep down we are all afraid of something. We fear life; we fear death, and everything in between. We are afraid of little things like black cats crossing our paths and spilled salt. We’re afraid of big things like drastic change, failure, rejection, crime, poverty, hearing bad news from a doctor or waking up in the middle of the night to a dreaded phone call.
Some of us (like Adam) are even afraid of God.
Now, in quite a few cases the Bible tells us that we should fear God. Yet, in every one of those cases, the Bible is not describing a fear that is in any way debilitating. It does not mean that we should be afraid of God because he could destroy us with a cosmic click of his fingers but rather that we should be in awe of God because he is mighty in power AND love. Of course we should fear God in the sense of profound awe and reverent respect. However, that fear should not be debilitating or restrictive.
Millions throughout the world live with the image of God as a smoke-breathing, lightening-throwing tyrant. That image is in stark contrast with the tender, graceful Father that Jesus told us about. In today’s focus reading we are reminded that God wishes us to be friends with him. We should not underestimate how incredible this – that our Creator and Maker would seek friendship with us.
If fear is a real problem for you in any way then think about this: if the first words Adam is recorded as saying to God is ‘I was afraid,’ then the first recorded words at the birth of Jesus (God becoming human) are, ‘Don’t be afraid’. Remember, that’s what God’s messengers, the angels, said to the shepherds – ‘Don’t be afraid’. In fact, the words ‘Don’t be afraid’ and ‘Fear not’ are repeated well over 200 times in the Bible.
Like a loving parent would reassure a frightened child, it seems that God whispers these words again and again and again to us. ‘Don’t … be … afraid.’
This is the thought I would like you to carry throughout this week – that whatever your fears may be, and no matter how huge and threatening they are, know that God is your friend. God will never let go of you, God will never abandon you, God will never give up on you. With that truth in mind, we need never be afraid.
PRAY AS YOU GO
O God, you are our Creator, our Saviour and our Friend. It is a quite incredible thing to know your friendship – to know that you love us with a love that is both tender and formidable. Help us to balance this knowledge by carrying within us a deep awe and respect for you. And help us to face all our fears, armed with these truths. Amen.
FOCUS READING
John 15:15(NIV)
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
