“Not Moved by What I Fear” “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32).” Someone has said that fear is the cheapest room in the house of life, while also being the most costly. In 2 Chronicles 15 we read that the Spirit of God came upon Azariah as King Asa of Judah was passing by, fresh from a victory. The King had prayed before going into battle, “Lord, there is none like you to help the powerless against the mighty. O Lord we rely on you, in your name we have come against this vast army. O Lord, you are our God: do not let man prevail against us.” Why would the Spirit of God need to give words of faith to King Asa? He was already calling on the name of the Lord. He had already experienced the blessing that follows when one calls on the name of the Lord. The first answer is that too often, as soon as we have been blessed, our egos, which for the most part tend to be stronger than our prayer life, stronger than our willingness to spend time praising God each day. The ego is so overpowering that it creates an obsession with self, often consumes our time for devotion and study with God. This causes us to quickly pick up the false idol of SELF. In the same manner Israel often turned away from God and toward idols. Secondly, the enemy who looms in “the horror of the shade,” is always waiting for an opportunity to plant fear in place of faith. It happened to Elijah after God had so dramatically demonstrated His power over the altar and prophets of Baal who served Queen Jezebel. So Azariah was given a message from God to give to this king, basking in his new won victory: The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. God was preparing King Asa for what was to come next. No matter how great the victory, no matter how wonderful the blessing, we must always ask the question that the President often asked in the dramatic series “West Wing” at the end of each episode: “What’s next?” God used Azariah to let Asa know that this question does not have to lead to anxiety and fear, if we will stay with the Lord, if we will “continue to seek God” in EVERYTHING. There is nothing too big for God. There is nothing too small for God. And, of course we read at the end of that passage in 2 Chronicles, verses five seven: In those days it was not safe to travel about, for all the inhabitants of the lands were in great turmoil. One nation was being crushed by another, because God was troubling them with every kind of distress. But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded. In the third chapter of the Book of Ezra, we read beginning in verse 2, Then Jeshua son of Josadak and his fellow priests and Zerubbbel son of Shealtiel and his associates began to build the altar of the God of Israel …. 3. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they (1) built the altar on its foundation and (2) sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices. 4. Then in accordance with what is written, they celebrated . . . How do we overcome fear? They had good reason to be afraid. The political climate in Ezra was even worse than that described in Chronicles. They were returning from exile in Babylon. In accordance with God’s judgment against Israel, they had been removed from Jerusalem and the surrounding lands for 70 years. Yet they came back in faith, because before they went into exile, God comforted them with these words through the prophet Jeremiah (29:11): “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” An inspirational quote sent to me this week on Facebook reads as follows: No matter how you feel, Get up, dress up, Show up, and never give up. The first way to overcome fear is to start praising God and if we already are, praise God some more. But while we are praising God has made another essential step necessary—Get to work. Don’t stop. What the exiles found was that even the name Israel and Judah was no longer used to describe their homeland. The Persians had given it the name, “trans-Euphrates” just as the colonizers did when they invaded Africa and divided up tribal homelands with new national names to suit their imperialist designs. The temple had been destroyed. Places of worship in ruins. The magnificent palace of David destroyed, the walls of the city torn down. But they didn’t sit there crying over their loses. Yes. They were afraid. The people around them were hostile, strangers to the God of Israel, but they began to rebuild the altars. They began to offer worship and praise to God even in the process of building. They remembered the promise of Jeremiah, that God had a plan to prosper them, not harm them, to give them hope and a future. The only way we will know this for sure is to step out in faith against fear. They were not moved by what they feared. They were moved by the promise of God. They were not moved by fear of those who surrounded them; they were moved by the presence of God. They were not moved by overwhelming fear of the task ahead. They were moved by the God who promised to be with them every step if the way, if they would be busy rebuilding the relationship. Some of us have a relationship with God right now that can only be described as “in ruins.” But thanks be to God, we are not discouraged by our ruined relationship, but encouraged by God who never stops loving us, to build the relationships again, anew and with thanksgiving for his unconditional love and power. Thanks be to God. Let us begin the work of rebuilding—Let us be moved and motivated by God’s love, God’s acceptance, God’s faithfulness—and never give in to our fears. Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 07:55:10 +0000
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