Copyright\u00a0 by Shea Oakley<\/p>\n
All rights reserved<\/p>\n
The experience of fear appears to be an unavoidable reality in this life, even for the Christian. While some may claim they have never feared anything since their salvation this is a bit difficult to believe. Such individuals may have been permanently freed from certain apprehensions at conversion, but it is highly unlikely that they\u2019ve been relieved of all such apprehensions for all of their earthly existence. Freedom from experiencing any and every fear this world holds (or even appears to hold) seems like an impossibility on this side of Heaven. Even the Lord Himself felt its grip in the Garden of Gethsemane. How could we not?<\/p>\n
Of course the paradox here is that we are told by that very same Lord not to fear<\/em> (Luke 12:17). How can this be? Why would Jesus seemingly imply we need not experience something that He, in His humanity, felt Himself?<\/p>\n Perhaps the answer lies in the difference between feeling<\/em> fear and giving in <\/em>to it. What the Son of God felt on the night before His crucifixion did not turn Him from the cross. Beyond that, it appears from the biblical record that, at some point, the fear of Thursday became the unmovable resolve of Good Friday. Yes, Jesus knew fear, but with the help of His Father He overcame it. So, too, can all those who have saving faith in Him.<\/p>\n The questions some might ask at this point are: \u201cExactly how is this feeling of fear overcome? What practical action I can take to fight and win against my dreads? It is all well and good to talk about conquering that which frightens me, but what does it actually look like in my daily life?\u201d The solution to such questions is found in understanding what it means to be a child of God. It is our mind and heart recognition of our position in Christ that makes all the difference.<\/p>\n By divine definition nothing in Heaven or on Earth can be stronger than the Maker of both. God is greater than all <\/em>and that all <\/em>includes whatever it is that scares us. As we come to viscerally know that we belong to a sovereign God, we can also come to know eventual freedom from each and every fear that confronts us. The Scripture tells us, \u201cIf God is for us, who can be against us?\u201d (Romans 8:31) It is in believing this truth that any accosting dread can be cast out of our lives.<\/p>\n This does not mean that everything about which a Christian feels fear will not come to pass. Returning to the Garden of Gethsemane, we need to understand that our Lord felt real fear about a real proposition- the fulfillment of His saving mission in the world. What He dreaded as He sweat \u201cgreat drops of blood\u201d (Luke 22:44, KJV) did happen<\/em> the next morning. But that reality did not destroy Him. Neither do we need to be destroyed by our own \u201cworst case scenarios\u201d if they actually come true (which, in most cases, they do not). The grave could not hold Jesus Christ. He suffered death, but He transcended and defeated it. Because this is true, nothing we face is unendurable. We have the promise of the ultimate \u201cOvercomer\u201d that whatever does happen to us will finally be worked out for our good (Romans 8:28), to be realized either in this world or the next.<\/p>\n We will feel fear during our time on earth, and sometimes what we fear may come true. The fact that this will be our experience is almost certainly unavoidable. It is what we do in response that counts. No fear, or circumstance that causes that fear, is greater than the God to whom we belong. It is on the basis of the knowledge of this ultimate truth that we can respond to fear with faith and send it away. Such knowledge may not come overnight, but it will come<\/em> if we consciously seek it in and through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Copyright\u00a0 by Shea Oakley All rights reserved The experience of fear appears to be an unavoidable reality in this life, even for the Christian. While some may claim they have never feared anything since their salvation this is a bit difficult to believe. Such individuals may have been permanently freed from certain apprehensions at conversion,… <\/p>\n