Advent and Fear

There are many different directions I could go with this topic. "Fear is the mind killer," said the weird character from the old science fiction movie, Dune. (They were all weird characters in that movie.) For much of my Christian walk I have considered myself above the worst influences of fear. God didn't give me a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), so, with His help, I killed it instead of letting it kill me. Well, not so fast. Lately, I've learned that fear is one of my biggest problems. This has been an embarrassing and difficult thing to learn. One thing any of us can do when we discover a glaring character flaw is become a student of it. In my unpleasant study of fear and its impact on faith I've noticed the following...

1) Fear is unprincipled. Advent celebrates a faith that is built on eternal principles. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Faith in Him is too. Fear, on the other hand, is a shape shifter. I was once afraid of insignificance and failure. Then I became afraid of success. Then I became afraid of loss. The list could continue. We all have a list of fears. Some fears remain on the list; some fears don't. New fears show up whenever we give them a chance. And foolish sayings like "No Fear" actually pump life into our fears.

2) Fear is relentless. Fear, like many things, does not respond to neglect. To grow fear, ignore it. Fear must be faced daily. If not, we slowly become our own brand of coward, sometimes expressing false fearlessness with pomp and bluster. Only those who acknowledge that their fears want to run their lives are able, with God's help, to contend with them.

3) Fear appears friendly. Fear acts like it has our best interests in mind. I've heard some discuss that fear is a distortion of a God-given sense of self-protection that has a legitimate basis. Fear never lets us forget this ancestry, even though it hurts us rather than helps us. It always seems to argue intelligently for us to withdraw, hide, doubt, or quit. When fear gets its way, we lose ours.

4) Fear fosters unhealthy relationships. Fearful people naturally attract and offer counterfeit support to one another. Nothing builds a toxic community like cowardice. People once relied on and admired serve their fears and run headlong into disgrace and bitterness. I've felt it in the workplace, in the military, and especially in families. This anti-community fear creates is a cancerous one. It destroys itself.

Advent is the beginning of the story of how God conquers fear, not just in world history, but in the personal history of every believer.

PRAYER: Lord, take me into my fears. I want to shut the door on the dark room they live in, but You lead me to bust down the door, turn on all the lights, and place them under arrest. Help me realize how afraid of my fears I really am and how free You really want me to be from them. Advent shouts courage into my spirit. If You did all this, what do I have to fear? If you didn't give me this spirit of fear, why am I so deferential to it? Ruin this dirty, cooperative relationship I have with my fears; replace it with a vibrant, authentic relationship with You, Lord Jesus. Amen.

TOMORROW: Advent and Worship