We all have fears. Who doesn’t?
We fear something may happen. We fear something may not. From fears well founded to that of the unknown, what have we not been afraid of? Failure, success alike; enemies, friends, as are those in-between. We cower at the chills of diseases not any less at the brushes of death. Even to some, the second coming Christ is doomsday! Perhaps, God is the only one we haven’t really feared.
Fear comes in flashes, then it hovers, lingers on, to exploit the space of doubts. Given a foothold, it grows into a stronghold. And in no time, our public veils of smiles begin to pale in the chokehold of fear. You wished it could drain away with the flow of private tears but it becomes tormenting and all of a sudden frightening, even in the public!
But hold it, can we check this together?
Once a fear doesn’t begin with wisdom, it’s not likely to be the fear of the Lord one who can destroy both the trembling body and the shivering soul and can choose to raise them up again. Such fear which does not begin with wisdom is likely the fear of whatsoever can kill the body, soul and die itself.
So, how best should you handle your fears? Faith readily comes to mind and this is good. But what happens when fear pounds your heart and you need faith to come by hearing but all you can hear is the thump of torment? I bet you need something that can breakthrough the heart directly, something that doesn’t only come by hearing but is shed over your heart like the rescuing shock of a resuscitation pad.
What is it that's more than faith? Love it has to be. The love of God. And its so amazing to found out that even both faith and hope hang on it. “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out IN OUR HEARTS by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”
Now, that sounds absurd, not to say complex. How does Love battle fear? Engaging fear with love looks like an overkill to be honest. But not when we search the scriptures which isn’t the enticing words of man’s wisdom.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
Hmm, that quote in the Revelation of Jesus to John the Beloved in his first book, chapter 4 verse 18 tells it all, such that if that’s all you can hold from here, you can as well stop reading this.
Where fear persist, love is simply wanting. If you look beyond the surface, you would see that someone is embattled in the shade of fear when love hasn prevailed. If that sounds a bit possible, what then is it when we say we even fear love itself? I suppose what we fear is insecurity, fear of being heartbroken, fear or being at the losing end. Perhaps a second look would see if there’s indeed any love left or that we are fear-stifled. Maybe what we had wasn’t really perfect love in the first place but a lookalike.
Is it then possible we thought we love that person, those people, that thing but we were just being selfish whereas love is patient and kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself. What else did Apostle Paul said of love in 1 Corinthians 13? Perhaps why love is called charity because it would have given so much out that it wouldn’t even know when it had given up its fears too.
You see, in love we are emptied of fear. And there would always be that opportunity to fight our fears back with love. When hate surges, Jesus said love your enemies. It’s a killing blow. Love is an unusual warhead. Fear would be expecting the shield of faith but then Love comes casting it in ambush, fear is paralysed and melted off. When fear puffs in selfishness, quell it with love, when fear of unmet need arises, fight back by sharing in love. Love seems weak but it’s the bravest of all - the last card of all armories. There are times when everything would seem to have failed, even plenty of money, Paul said Love never fails. Never. You can take that to bank, Never!
To dwarf Goliath, it would take David the love of God and the love for Saul’s daughter in the valley of the shadow of death. Job, the wealthy tycoon once lived in fear. He said the thing he feared most had happened to him when he lost almost everything except his wife. He was so bedeviled that even His wife challenged him to curse God and die. Despite applying his unyielding mountain moving faith, saying he knew his Redeemer lives, God would chose not to restore or double his losses until he prayed for his attacking friends – Job 42:10-11. Love never fails.
With faith Abraham would indeed move over the mount of Moriah with Isaac and tell the servant, I and the lad would go yonder and worship and come back. That’s some faith, hard to beat! Moving up with faith, he’d tell his intelligent son whom he loved, who also asked about the lamb offering that the Lord would provide himself a lamb. But when the lamb was not obvious in that face of fear of insanely killing the long awaited child of promise. The angel recounted it was the fear of God that moved his handful of knife to give away in love exactly what he would have lacked for life. We all know the result, the ram showed up and God would give His own son later, in love.
When you fear that what you have is finishing off and that you may not have enough again, think of someone who it need more than you do and give if so led. Give them in love and frighten the fear of giving. That was what Job did. It was what the widow of Zarephath did with an handful of flour and olive oil in the face of deathly fear of giving her last. Yet again, another widow who gave her last mite in love without knowing Jesus was watching would kill the fear of lack forever. Theres faith already embedded in inside love. Love always win. Giving in love was what the boy with the five loaves and two pieces of fishes did to silence the fear of hunger. We really begin to live when we give out of love. In love, do things that scare you. Frighten your fears!
There’s always something to give and cheerfully so, in love in the face of fear. Give thanks. All the legends mentioned above gave in love in the face of fear. Choose to die in love for once than live in fear as cowards that die many times, you would see that even death is defeated and only fear-mongering on its way to the gallows.
Again, think of it this way, when we were aliens to God, instead of the fear that He might have lost us, His image, or fear that His sim may die in vain if we refuse to believe later. Even while we were yet sinners, God gave an example of what he wanted, a begotten Son to get more adopted sons. He fought back for lost His image in us with a love that covers all sins.
When you love God you fear no one. You fear no diseases, no demons or death. You become scary to fear. You realize love is brave and fear is actually a coward. When angel Gabriel announced the overshadowing of the Holy Spirt to Mary, He said FEAR NOT. We only have this kind of fear-frightening love of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
"For God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of power, of Love and of sound mind!"
Frighten your fears as we look forward to you joining us in bicq 5: HOLY HOSTS.
Topic Writer: Olusanya Olusola
Edited by Olusanya Racheal
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