Fear This

Everyone’s afraid.  Afraid about the future, the economy, pollution, the government, and the list goes on and on.  Worry seems to be the norm.  Apprehension is a way of life.  What’s going to happen? Will we make it?  What if?  Fear plagues and grips.  The world seems unstable to say the least.  Bad news is abundant.  Nothing seems safe any more.  The stock market, jobs, retirement all teeter unsteadily.  World unrest, wars, and natural disasters shake us to the core. 

I’ll admit it’s hard not to worry about the chaos all around us.  But the fear that clutches me originates from something much worse.  It’s due to something much deeper, fundamental, and eternally significant.  I’m afraid of what we have become as individuals, as communities, and as a country.  The threat that I feel and see and hear is one not from without but from within. 

God’s Word says, “as a man thinks in his heart so he is”(Proverbs 23:7).  So what are we thinking?  What have we become?  Just in my lifetime I have seen this country and people in general make a radical shift.  What used to be clearly wrong and unacceptable is now not only accepted, but the norm.  Lines between right and wrong have blurred into a smeared mess.  No one wants to speak up even when they do have a conviction for fear of ridicule or “not fitting in”.  Political correctness is the order of the day.  So we continue to accept, even if unwillingly, and with increasing frequency affronts to our core beliefs and principles.

There seems to be no end in sight.  Over and over we cower while another freedom is snatched away or someone convinces us that another sin is “not really wrong”.  The lines blur, our consciences dull, and we follow the world blindly.  What once was wrong doesn’t seem so any more.  Just consider how many behaviors and actions used to be seen as clearly wrong; lying, promiscuous sexual behaviors, immodest dress, homosexuality, abortion, stealing, adultery, divorce, foul language including using God’s name without reverence, and abandoning children all were clearly seen as unacceptable in the not so distant past.  What has happened to us when we come to the place when these behaviors become the norm and even as Christians we look the other way and say nothing, do nothing?

It’s not the stock market or how we will retire, or even what our future here on this earth looks like that should strike fear in our hearts.  What should leave us trembling and shaken is what our eternal future is going to look like.  Nothing here in this life, unless it has eternal significance, is of any value or consequence.  We face the same decision, as did the Israelites as God led them to the Promised Land.  The choice that the same God put before them was this:

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and you children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  For the Lord is our life…”  Deuteronomy 30: 19-20

So, all of us must answer this question.  What are we going to choose?  Will we sit in silence and blindly let the world lead us along down a path to destruction, or will we seek God and his counsel, learn his Way, and stand up against wrong?  Times may have changed, but right and wrong have not.  No matter how much sin is embraced, it is still sin.  Is it uncomfortable to go against the grain?  You bet.  Is it scary to challenge the status quo?  Absolutely.  But we serve a God who gives us everything we need to do the right thing! 

As Christians, we have the confidence that His Spirit lives in us and provides us with all we need to do what He has called us to do; to be salt and light, to make a difference, to go into all the world, to ease suffering, care for those who cannot care for themselves, and to take a stand against what is contrary to God’s Word and His Way.  He will give us all we need at the perfect time to do what He calls us to do.  His Word is filled with encouragement and promises:

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. “  Ephesians 6:13

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.”  Deuteronomy 31:6

So, each of us must make a choice to stand or fall, be courageous or cowardly, be willing to be uncomfortable instead of comfortable, or to be change agents or blind followers.  What’s your choice?