What (or who) do you fear? We all have fears; some are rational and others much less so. Some are healthy, ingrained fears, like the fear of falling or the fear of loud noises. These are built-in “fears” which encourage survival and reflexive reactions on our part. Others, the overwhelming majority of fears, are the results of doubts we have about ourselves, others, or the world around us. I am going to make a broad statement in regard to those fears, though I typically try not to generalize, because in this case, it really does seem to hold true: What you fear will rule your life.
Yes, if you let them go unchecked and unchallenged, your fears will rule your life. And fear can very easily lead to sin. Though there are many examples of this in the Bible, the one which caused me to reflect on this and write this blog post is the situation in Genesis 18:10-15. This is the place in Scripture when the three visitors told Abraham that he and his wife Sarah would have a son by that time next year. Sarah overheard this from the tent and laughed, due to the absurdity of her bearing a child in her old age. Pause right there. This was not the first time where God tells Abraham that Sarah will bear him a son. He had promised Abraham that he would be the father of many peoples, sure, but Abraham had a son named Ishmael through Hagar. Could the Lord have meant through Ishmael? No. In Genesis 17:16 and again in 17:19, the Lord confirms with Abraham that Sarah would indeed bear him a son. This son would be named Isaac and would be the one with whom the Lord would establish His covenant. So these three visitors are telling Abraham something he already knew; they just gave him a more specific timeline.
…Now the Bible doesn’t say whether Abraham told Sarah about his conversation with the Lord which took place in Genesis 17. But I’m going to venture a guess that he did. Admittedly, we are not told for certain. But Abraham was a man of faith, his belief was credited to Him as righteousness, and I don’t think he would have held back that amazing promise from his aging wife in some attempt to not get her hopes up or something. His hopes would be way up, and for good reason! His God was a God who delivered, who kept His promises, and who always proved faithful! This is why I imagine he was bursting and excited to tell Sarah what he was told back in Genesis 17. If that’s the case, then in Genesis 18 when Sarah overhears the visitors talking with Abraham, it was not the first time she had heard that she would bear a son in her old age. Her laughter was not because it was such a strikingly novel idea to her; she had heard it before. Regardless whether my speculation is accurate, however, Sarah laughed because she found it ridiculous and doubted the validity of their statement. She doubted. But let’s continue…
In Genesis 18:13, after Sarah laughed, the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Then, verse 15, tells us a little something about our human nature. Verse 15 says, “Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, ‘I did not laugh.’” Sarah was afraid, so she lied. Her fear led to sin. I know it seems crazy lying to the Lord, but that’s what she did (and He called her out on it) but her fear blocked her clarity. I wonder what she was afraid of. Even after acknowledging Sarah’s laughter, the Lord again confirmed that when he would return next year Sarah would have a son. It’s not like she had grounds to think that the Lord was going to strike her down or something; He had already stated His promise again to them! So what was it? I think Sarah was afraid to admit her doubt to the Lord. But the Lord knows our hearts, and He can handle our doubts – we just need to admit them and hand them right on over to Him. When we don’t, they can cause us more issues or even sin down the road, like they did with Sarah.
Fear prompted Sarah to sin, to lie to the very God who had been so good to her and her husband, who had chosen her as a mother of nations, who would bless them with a miraculous birth. It would be easy to look on her and shake our heads, but truthfully we are easily tempted to do the same thing in our own lives. Fear doesn’t always lead to sin, and sin isn’t always caused by fear, BUT if fear is left unchecked, it will naturally lead to sin in either action, attitude, or (quite frequently) omission. Sarah’s fear caused her to sin via the action of lying. I think of abortion and how nearly each time a woman chooses that path, it is out of fear – either fearing for her future or financial security, fearing how others will view her, fearing the baby’s father or someone else involved… Fear so easily leads us to sin even in such ways that are so painful to God. Sometimes, though, fear takes root below the surface and may not seemingly, or at first, affect the outer actions but certainly pollutes the attitude of the holder. I consider how racism is the result of fear. And racism can lie below the surface for a very long time before it ever affects a person’s actions. But how detrimental that attitude is even before it prompts sinful actions (or the lack of action!) Yes, fear can and does very easily lead to sinful attitudes.
Some examples which easily come to mind are the following, though perhaps upon reflection you will discover that you have a fear not listed which is causing your life to be less than it could be, or even resulting in sin.
- Fear for physical safety can lead to: unwarranted attacks on others, defensiveness, coldness and guardedness in regard to others, skepticism of anything different or strong because it has the potential to be a threat, lack of taking action despite being called, always taking the safe and comfortable option, etc… Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
- Fear of becoming financially unstable can lead to: money becoming an idol, greed, stinginess, seeing everything as dollar signs, white collar crime, theft, participating in illegal means of making money, staying in a job for the wrong reason despite being called to serve elsewhere, neglecting to provide for others, neglecting to tithe, etc… Matthew 6:31-34 “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
- Fear of looking “bad” to others can lead to: lying, slander about others to make oneself look justified/better, gossip, false pretenses, giving in to peer pressure, bragging, wearing a “mask,” vanity, overly concerned about self, not doing something you know is right due to the onlookers, not testifying to God’s transformative grace in your life due to fear of judgment from others, etc… Matthew 10:26-31 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
- Fear of losing or not succeeding at something can lead to: cheating, lying, overly competitive nature and self-absorption, pride, argumentative, quarreling over meaningless things rather than promoting peace and harmony, jealousy, seeing others as people to “beat in the rat race” and not as fellow human beings and children of God, etc… Philippians 2:3-4 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
- Fear of losing someone in your life can lead to: becoming cold, guarded, closed-off, refraining from witnessing or encouraging others in Christ due to the potential of losing the friendship or relationship down the road, becoming very self-important, being manipulative and controlling and jealous out of desire to more fully “own” or “have” someone, view your loved one’s other relationships as competition to yourself out of insecurity, not extending love as a means of self-preservation, being selfish, etc… 1 Peter 1:22 “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.” (NKJV ends with “love one another fervently with a pure heart.”)
There are many other examples, but I tried to stick with some of the most common. When we fear something, it means we are placing it in a position of awe and reverence, elevating it in our lives to the point that it begins to dictate how we think, how we make decisions, how we act, how we treat others, and ultimately how we view God. In this way, what we fear becomes our idol. It shows a lack of trust and can make us live as those afraid. Like Sarah, it reveals doubts we harbor, sometimes down deeper than we allow anyone else to see. Deeper than we even like to admit to ourselves. And yet they influence our lives, they detriment our potential, and they lessen the impact the Lord is able to have both on us and through us. Fear can debilitate entirely.
What is something you fear? Aside from the natural fears we probably should have (in healthy doses, of course), what is something in your life that you know has either caused you to act in ways that would not please the Lord, held you back from your full potential, or even caused you to refrain from taking any kind of step at all? Once you have one in mind, consider the following:
- Is this a rational fear which has just escalated to an unhealthy point, or is this a fear which I should not be allowing in my life at all?
- Why do you think you fear this thing to the extent that you do? (An experience in your past? Your upbringing? The influence of others who harbor this fear? Satan directly attacking you to lessen your kingdom impact?, etc…)
- What can you do to lessen or eradicate this fear? (Ideas below: )
- Write it down, understand why you have this fear, consider ways it is negatively impacting your life (sometimes just acknowledging the fear and seeing these written out will help dramatically!)
- Pray over this fear in the name of Jesus; take that sucker captive!
- Address the underlying trust issue you have with the Lord. (Confess your doubt. Confess your unbelief like the boy’s father in Mark 9:24, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Don’t let pride have any reign here, friends.)
- Talk with someone who can help you psychologically work through overcoming this fear, especially if it is at an unhealthy level and severely impacting your life.
I looked up online how many times God tells us not to fear or be afraid at various times throughout the Bible. According to what I am finding, 365 seems to be the number. 365!! That’s enough to read one reference each day for every day of the year and not repeat any! (Except leap years, for you wise guys out there.) The Lord really wanted to drive home that we are not meant to live as fearful and afraid. He also tells us many additional times to have courage, take heart, or be strong. With Him, we can have confidence and courage! John 14:27 tells us, “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.” Ephesians 6:10 encourages us to “be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”
Proverb 9:10 tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The only thing we are to fear – to awe, to revere, to give the power to influence our decisions and pursuits in this life – is the Lord. In this way, we are to fear the Lord and the Lord alone. Like I said, what you fear WILL rule your life. So let it be God. He can be trusted with your life much more than you can.
Deuteronomy 31:6, HLC
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