Led
Astray by Fear
Fear caused Adam
and Eve to hide from God’s presence after they
sinned: He [Adam] answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was
afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (Genesis 3:10).
Prideful self-determination will always lead to
shame.
And
shame will always lead to fear.
Fear
persuaded Adam to suggest that God and Eve were at fault for his sin.
God said, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat
from?” And Adam replied, “The woman you put here with me - she
gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12).
Fear of punishment compels a man to point
the
finger of blame
toward
anywhere but self.
Fear
caused Cain to have great concern regarding his own impending
punishment, but no concern for the brother he had just murdered
(Genesis 4:13-14).
Fear stands directly in front of us,
obscuring our
view of personal responsibility.
Fear
constrained Abram to ask his wife Sarai to lie to the Egyptians by
telling them she was not Abram’s wife, but, instead, his sister! She
was very beautiful and he was afraid the Egyptians would kill him in
order to have Sarai for themselves (Genesis 12:11-13).
Fear entices us to manipulate relationships
toward
dishonesty.
Still
fearful, Abram even allowed Sarai to be taken as Pharaoh’s wife: So
Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why
didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my
sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife?…” Genesis 12:18-19)
Fear invites us to sacrifice the integrity
of our
loved ones.
Fear
caused Lot to resist the direction of the angels who were telling him
he would be safe in the mountains. He insisted on going to a small town
called Zoar, instead. Then, soon after, fear led Lot to flee the town
and live in a cave (Genesis 19:18-30).
Fear may try to lead us to safety.
But
it is not fear’s purpose to lead us to safety.
It is
only supposed to keep us from harm.
Fear
compelled Abraham to lie about his wife Sarah, a second time. He said
Sarah was his sister. This was a half-truth. She was his half sister
and she was his wife. So, Abimelech king of Gerar took Sarah for his
wife! (Genesis 20:1-11)
There is no sin too lowly to commit, when
one’s
fear of man
is
stronger than one’s trust in God.
Fear
led Isaac to lie about his wife Rebekah in the same way and for the
same reason fear had led his father Abraham to lie about his wife
Sarah: So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife!
Why did you say, ‘she is my sister?’ ” Isaac answered him, “Because I
thought I might lose my life on account of her.” Then Abimelech said,
“What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept
with your wife” Genesis 26:9-10).
Ungodly behavior in reaction to fear may be
a
lesson we inadvertently
teach
our children.
Fear
persuaded Moses to doubt God’s ability to enhance his speaking ability,
so that Moses would be able to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites
go. God said to Moses: “So now, go.
I am
sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of
Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10) But, after Moses was given several miraculous
signs with which to convince Pharaoh, Moses replied, “O Lord, please
send someone else to do it.” Then the Lord’s anger burned against
Moses... (Exodus 4:13,14)
Fear of personal inadequacy in the face of a
commission from God is effectually a lack of belief in the adequacy of
God.
Fear
led the Israelites in the desert to cry out in complaint whenever
hardship seemed to be approaching: “But the people were thirsty for
water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you
bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die
of thirst?’ ” (Exodus 17:3) (Exodus 14:11-12; 15:22-24; 16:2-3).
Fear blinds the heart to possibility,
but
gratitude reminds us of God’s faithfulness.
Fear
induced Aaron to succumb to the demands of the Israelites to fashion
idols for them to worship in Moses’ extended absence (Exodus 32:1,
21-24).
Pride of position increases fear of
rejection,
leading even godly men to support the latest, popular, yet decadent,
inclination of the masses.
(Consider
many of today’s politicians)
Fear
convinced Moses to prefer death, rather than be seen as a failure.
Moses said to God: “If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to
death right now - if I have found favor in your eyes - and do not let
me face my own ruin” (Numbers 11:15).
Fear of failure creates an anxiety from
which
despair
and faithlessness are born.
Fear
of death and defeat caused the Israelites to refuse to enter the
Promised Land. Ignoring all of God’s previous miracles of provision and
safety, some of the men who explored the Promised Land said, “We can’t
attack those people; they are stronger than we are” (Numbers
13:31).
Unbelief always results in the increase of
fear
and
the decrease of blessing.
As
Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, the Lord commanded Joshua,
“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to
inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give to them. Be
strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:6-7). Speaking of the Israelites,
who, forty years before were afraid to enter the promised land to claim
their inheritance because of their unbelief, God pledged, “So I
declared on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest” (Psalm
95:11).
The one who fears will never rest. But, if
our
courage is formed by our trust in God, we will find rest in our
inheritance.
…Magi
from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has
been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come
to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed...and he
gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were
two years old and under, in accordance with the time he learned from
the Magi (Matthew 2:1-16).
Faced with the possibility of losing the
power and
pleasure that accompany
a
position of authority, fear can give license to rash immorality.
But
Peter declared, “Even if I have to die for you, I will never disown
you’” (Matthew 26:35).
With great enthusiasm we may declare our
allegiance
to Christ.
He (Peter) denied it again with an oath: “I
don’t know
the man!”
(Matthew 26:72)
But where there is fear; with equal fervor
we may
declare that we do not know Him.
Roots of Fear
Fear, motivated by guilt, is
the
inevitable result
of deliberate acts of rebellion by created beings against a perfectly
holy God. The infinite magnitude of God’s holiness provokes an
appropriate reaction of fearfulness in the souls of sinful men. Because
of the unrepentant sinful nature of much of humanity, fear is prevalent
throughout our society today. And yet, scripture tells us that this
fear of punishment can be overcome:
There is no fear in love. But perfect love
drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment
-1 John 4:18
If God’s perfect love has touched our hearts through
the forgiveness of our sins, there is no longer any reason to harbor a
fear of punishment.
Unresolved Shame Contributes to Fear
Even
when we have received forgiveness of our sins
from God, sometimes a person may experience an underlying, but
persistent, fear of impending punishment or disaster, unrelated to
specific or current ungodly behavior. These kinds of fears most often
originate from shame-based beliefs we formed about ourselves as
children. Eventually, these shame-based beliefs can produce inordinate
levels of anxiety and become strongholds of fear as we mature.
As children, we have all had the occasion to
feel guilty after doing something wrong. But when, as adults, we seem
unable to leave the guilt from past sin behind us, it may be that we
came to believe that we did not really deserve forgiveness.
This lie usually develops when we are in a
relationship in which a parent or significant person in our lives
refuses, or appears to refuse, to forgive us for an offense they
believe we have
committed. Or, it could be that our parents or siblings were abusive
and blaming, or not supportive and we interpreted this to mean that we
were unworthy, unacceptable, or unlovable. Or perhaps we were wild and
crazy kids (like the author) and had to endure exceptional amounts of
corrective discipline. Whatever our particular history, a fear of
punishment may
not be based entirely on present circumstances. Fear can emanate from
past shame-based self-condemnation that relentlessly points an
accusatory finger at self.
Thoughts and Patterns
Childhood perceptions of
unremitted personal
guilt can
evolve over time
into an ongoing attitude of shame. This persistent attitude of shame
can evoke an underlying, yet pervasive, sense of unworthiness as an
adult. This fear can, on a daily basis, cause the adult person
considerable anxiety. Fear-based judgments and doubts often arise from
deep within the heart, provoking such thoughts as these:
“What’s
going to happen if they think I’m not really competent to do
this job?”
“Why
didn’t the pastor say ‘ Hi’ to me today in church?”
“My wife
looks like she might be mad about something. I’ve got to
remember what I did.”
“They
didn’t ask me to participate. They must think I’m not good
enough!”
“If I
don’t give him what he wants, he’ll leave me.”
These
kinds of thoughts represent a common pattern, from which we may
be able to project a progressive model of dysfunctional developments
that have evolved within the soul:
1st
- Unresolved feelings of guilt.
2nd
- A pervasive attitude of shame.
3rd
- An underlying fear of personal
unworthiness.
4th
- Judgments and doubts about self, others, and God.
5th
- Strongholds of fear.
From the
root of unresolved or unjustified feelings of guilt, an
unhealthy weed of fear can grow up in our lives. Feelings of guilt can
have a justifiable origin if there is current sin that is not confessed
and repented of in our lives. But, apart from this, if we have received
Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and thus, have been forgiven of
all our sins, scripture declares,
Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus...
-Romans 8:1
Childhood Perceptions
Strongholds of fear in our
lives also
frequently arise
from inaccurate
childhood perceptions that have developed into false beliefs. Sometimes
children’s perceptions are accurate, but, more often, their perspective
is hindered by a lack of information and experience.
When I was a young boy, I saw a mother cow giving
birth to a calf in a barn. At the time, the cow seemed to me to be as
large as an elephant. It was scary to me. Years later, as we drove by a
pasture with mature cows grazing, I asked, “How come all these cows are
so small!?” After being informed that the cows were a normal size, I
asked, “Then how come that cow I saw giving birth in the barn was so
huge? ” I was told, “The cow wasn’t so huge, you were so little!”
Although this made sense to me immediately, I still had difficulty
believing this explanation because my memory was based on an
exceptionally vivid experience.
In a similar way, we react to circumstances today by
relying upon either a conscious or subconscious referencing of
perceptions from past experiences. These past experiences did not need
to be exceptionally vivid in order to impact our feelings, thoughts,
and behavior today. They could also have been repetitive, rather than
particularly memorable, since repetitive events shape our perspective
just as well as dramatic experiences.
Whether
we have precise memories or relatively vague recollections of
past events, it is frequently our original perceptions that have the
most substantial influence, both positively and negatively, on us
today. If, for whatever reason, we do not translate our original
childhood perceptions into a mature perspective as we become adults, we
may grow to believe fear-based lies about the world, other people, God,
and ourselves.
Christ has Eliminated our Guilt
God’s word assures us, as
Christians, that
there is no
longer any
reason to live in fear of punishment. If there are strongholds of fear
in our lives, it may be the result of shame-based lies that are hidden
deeply within our souls but are still influencing us. To understand and
effectively reject the roots from which these lies have grown up, we
must depend on the Holy Spirit. Only God can direct us to an accurate
discernment of the truth:
“But
when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into
all truth”
-John 16:13
And
an
accurate discernment of the lies:
“Unless
I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go I
will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt
in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment...”
-John 16:7-8
Continuing
to believe shame-based lies about our personal acceptability
is actually an affront to the sacrifice Jesus made by dying on the
cross for our sins. Christ’s sacrifice entirely eliminates our
responsibility of guilt before God for our sins. Punishment is no
longer necessary for anyone who receives, by faith, Christ’s
substitutionary sacrifice for the forgiveness of their sins.
With
the
counsel of the Holy Spirit and by our willing cooperation
through forgiveness, repentance, and surrender to God’s will, we can
apprehend the necessary grace to escape the bondage of worldly lies
imprisoning our souls in cages of fear.
Fear
melts away before the warmth of the light of God’s grace. God’s
grace, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can shine into the
darkness, dispelling the lies, so that the love of God might come to
reside where the darkness of fear once dwelt. We experience this love
as we look to the cross and truly believe that Jesus has already
suffered the ultimate punishment for our sins.
As
His
work of love is being completed within us, we have this promise
and exhortation from the
Lord:
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit,
whom the
Father will send in my name,
will
teach you all things
and will
remind you of everything I have said to you.
Peace I
leave with you;
my peace
I give you.
I do not
give to you as the world gives.
Do not
let your hearts be troubled
and
do not
be afraid.”
-John 14: 26-27
12/07/00
Copyright
©
2000 by R. Thomas Brass
All
rights reserved
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