Most people are pretty familiar with the idea of ‘sin’, even if they do not subscribe to any religion: they understand the general meaning of the word. Fewer people think in terms of what is dishonouring to God, but what dishonours him stands between him and us in the same way as sin does.

 

A common phrase in the Bible is ‘Fear not..’, or ‘be not afraid’. This occurs over and over again, linked with many of God’s promises to us. ‘Be not afraid neither be thou dismayed for the Lord your God is with you’; ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine’; ‘fear not, for I will never leave you’. If we trust God, as we say we do, why do we not believe him when he says these things to us? Every time we allow fear to rule our hearts, we are dishonouring God who has already promised that, whatever befalls us, he will be there with us and all things will be turned by him to our ultimate good. It may not feel like it sometimes, but that is his promise and even if we cannot see the final pattern of our lives, we have to trust him and to believe what he says.

 

Fear is the most debilitating of all human emotions. It robs us of strength of mind, it robs us very often of physical strength, it leads to consequences such as telling lies, cheating, stealing, even murder. It robs us of our peace, it can have a bad effect on our health and most of all, it robs us of the present moment. Fear causes you always to be living in a fictional future – a future that may never happen, that most often does not happen or at least not in the way we were afraid of, and therefore takes away from us the joy of today, of here and now. Our children may still be at primary school but we worry that they won’t pass their exams and be able to get a good job: we fear that the bank holding our savings may collapse and leave us penniless; we fear that our daughters may take up with questionable men, or that our sons may ‘fall into bad company’ and be led into drugs or alcohol abuse. In some of these instances there are things we can do in a practical sense to minimise the risk, but worrying and being afraid will certainly not help the situation at all, they will simply leave us less able to deal with what we are facing. Fear weakens us and robs us and does not actually prepare us to face those things we fear.

 

Honour God by believing his word and trusting in his promises. Fear is a tool of Satan, to undermine us, to cause us distress and to take away our pleasure in the moment we are in. ‘Perfect love casteth out fear’ and the most perfect love comes from God. Let his love cast out the fear that binds you, that holds you back from all you could be and could achieve. Let go of the fear and embrace the love.