"The Tyranny of Fear"

"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was AFRAID, because I was naked; and I hid myself." (Gen. 3:8-10)



In this post it is my aim to briefly consider "Fear". The fear that I wish to deal with is not that "noble fear" that the scripture declares to be "the beginning of wisdom", or that proper and reverent awe and circumspection that is to be present as we contemplate the Holy character of God. No, the fear that I have in mind is that fear that began with our first parents at the Fall. This "fear" is a servile fear, that fear that brings seperation and enmity, that fear that I believe is summed up well in the word, "condemnation".

The account from Genesis that I noted above is such a stark contrast to what previously had been the experience of the man and the woman in Eden. What once was a place of sweet fellowship, harmony, and peacful co-existence with their creator was now a place that simply afforded them foilage and cover in their effort to hide from the One who should have been their chief joy!!

Now we, as their progeny, feel the weight of their terrible choice. We bow our faces toward the ground as we sense the displeasure of God toward our rebellious thoughts, words, and deeds!
We are creatures now that know fear intimately and deeply. We are tyrannized by it!

If I were to ask the question, "What are you afraid of?", or if you were to pose that same question to me, I have no doubt that we could quickly reply with a vast number of particular fears that we have. We are afraid of so many things, both animate and inanimate.
We fear the prospect of failing health. We fear the rejection of other people. We fear the loss of jobs or of economic security. We fear loneliness. We fear other people. We fear crime. We fear violent weather. We fear not being prepared for exams and questions that confront us. We fear the darkness and the unknown noises of the night. We fear to stand in front of others to speak or to just simply be there before their searching eyes. We fear the death of loved ones. We fear our own death!
We fear God! We fear His Just judgement against our own painfully perceived guilt and sin.

We are most miserable in our fears. It is bondage! It is a pitiless tyrant who hounds all those of Adam's race and dominates much of their daily motives and activities. We are indeed, moved by our fears!

Just ask yourself the question, "How many things do I do on a daily basis that are motivated by some sort of fear?" I would assert that fear taints many of our decisions and our actions!
How many of our "doings" and our "stresses" are directly related to the "fear of man" or, to the "fear of God"?

We are driven by an uneasiness, a feeling of uncertainty about people, places, and things, and most especially, the Holy gaze of God. We so desire certainty and acceptance, but alas, it seems so allusive!

I believe that I can say confidently, it's a scary world out there! It is, many times, an extremely inhospitable place. Also, we are ever aware of our failures and shortcomings with regard to our Creator's Holy standards and precepts!

O' wretched man that I am!!! Is there any hope for the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, or is it our destiny to pine away our days in trepidation and dread? Must we live this life in constant uncertainty and, even worse, contemplate the terrors to come when we stand before the righteous Judge who will "by no means clear the guilty"?

Is there any hope? For, if there is not, I would shout unapologetically, It would have been better to have never been born!!

But God!! He has not left us to our just desserts! He has not abandoned us to our self-imposed bondage, and the cruelity of sin's dominion!
He sent forth His Beloved! He sent forth the Son who lay in His bosom! He sent forth the One who was hated and despised by those whom He had made, and the One whom supplies our every breath!
He sent us HOPE and said to us FEAR NOT!!

The Son who had known no fear before the ever approving eye of the Father, must now bear our fears. The Son who had ever enjoyed the sweet fellowship that we threw away in the garden must know the crushing hell of fear fully realized......utter forsakeness by God!!

O' the depths of the riches of the mercy and grace of God! There is hope for our fear enslaved race!! May we all be enabled to look to the bearer of our fears and our condemnation, to Him who drank every last drop from the cup of God's just wrath, and may you and I hear these words afresh, each time fear seeks to dominate us once again, "FEAR NOT"!!!

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Heb.2:14-15)

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1John4:18)