I love the following quote from A.W. Tozer; he said, “Not death, but sin, should be our great fear”. Every so often, surveys are done asking people what their greatest fears are. Death is always high on the list, and public speaking usually tops it. You’ll also see things like heights, snakes, and being confined in a small space. Not once have I ever seen sin on any poll results. Apparently sin is nothing to be afraid of in the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. Yet sin is the only thing that can keep us from spending all of eternity with the loving God who breathed life into our very souls.
Fear
Refuse to be a Victim
Satan is subtle in his attacks. Most often we don’t attribute our struggles to the work of the devil. I don’t know at what point we began to lose the recognition of demonic activity. Everything that is true, good, pure, and peaceful is of God (Philippians 4:8). That means everything else is not of God, which in my system of beliefs, points to the devil. Until you learn to recognize your enemy, you will never be able to defeat him. Instead we live in a state of blissful ignorance, unaware of the attack, and incapable of defending ourselves against it. In other words, we become the victim.
Trust without Borders
I often listen to music as I drift to sleep at night. Recently I’ve been playing the song, “Oceans”, by Hillsong United. When I woke this morning, the lyrics were stuck in my head. In particular the line, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders”, kept impressing itself upon me. I started to think about what that looks like in our lives. What would I do if my trust in God had no borders, no limits? It’s easy to confess our faith in God, particularly for those of us who grew up in the Church. It is much harder to proclaim your faith without putting any limitations on it whatsoever.
He’ll Take Care of the Rest
We spend so much of our lives living in defeat, never remembering that Christ has already won the victory for us. We get tired of fighting the battles and give up without ever realizing that the battle was over before it even started. Imagine an army too tired to fight another battle. Suddenly they are informed the enemy has surrendered. Instead of marching in and securing the victory, they remain wallowing in their fatigue and let their opponent know that instead of declaring victory, they are going to concede defeat because they’re just too tired to go on. It’s a ridiculous scenario, but it is the way many followers of Jesus are living their lives every day.
New Chapters
New chapters are always exciting. I can’t count the number of nights I’ve stayed up too late because I couldn’t wait to see what the next chapter would bring in the book I was reading. There is an excitement in wondering where the story will lead next. What unexpected twists might we encounter when we turn the page? Our life is an ever unfolding story, and just like a great book, new chapters present exciting opportunities if we only dare to turn the page. New chapters are like new beginnings. We have put the previous ones behind us and there’s no going back. We must move forward to discover how things will play out.