(F)orget (E)verything (A)nd (R)etreat

What is your greatest fear? Take a second to think about it. Usually the first thing that comes to mind is something like heights, clowns, spiders, the dark... something along those lines, but if we really take a minute to think about it, to be truly honest, we'll discover that our greatest fear is likely something much more more serious and much less tangible.

When we really boil it down, often our fears are more along the lines of failure, the unknown (change, future, etc...), not being accepted or loved, death (your own or that of a loved one), not meeting expectations (your own or others), etc... These fears plague our lives, they find a way to wiggle into every aspect of our lives in one way or another, small or overwhelming, and once there, these fears have a way of manifesting themselves in our very attempts to avoid them.

We are afraid of failure, so we never try anything, we never start, so we ultimately fail. We are afraid of death, so we shelter ourselves and we never really live. We fear rejection, so we never seek acceptance. We fear no one will love us, so we lock up our hearts where they're safe and absolutely unlovable.

Fear causes us to forget everything we know, to forget truth, and to retreat. Sometimes this retreat means running, we run from life, from "danger," from whatever situation we are afraid of, or we retreat into ourselves. We give up, and are paralyzed by our fears.

Personally, I'm afraid of heights. Seriously, my head spins when I'm near an edge or a cliff. You could fall and die, and I guess there is where my real fear lies, not so much in heights themselves, but in the perceived danger and potential death that heights present, because, you see, I'm not afraid of flying, and I love to look out the window, and I'm not afraid to stand on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, on the enclosed viewing deck, and look out over the city. In both of these situations my fear is dissolved because I place my faith in devices that are designed, and promise to keep me safe, the plane, the fencing, and outside of extreme and unusual conditions, they will. When my faith is in that which provides security, I no longer see the danger, and I am not afraid.

I recently read A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker, which is a great book, and I would highly recommend it. One of the themes in this book is faith and fear and how fear can dominate, direct and control us, determining our fate and hobbling our lives, if we let it. However, "God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness..."⁽¹⁾ Fear serves a practical purpose, in that it makes us alert to and ready for danger, prepares us to fight or escape, and helps us stay safe, but it is only necessary if we are in danger. Just as my fear of heights disappears when I'm protected by the safety of a plane or fence, in life, we only need be afraid when we are outside of, or don't place our faith in that which protects us. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, and "perfect love drives out fear..."⁽²⁾ When our eyes are on our security we have no reason to fear, for we only fear that which endangers us, and with God, we are never in danger. We can walk on stormy waves, stand in flaming furnaces and sleep amongst the jaws of lions. We aren't merely fearless in the face of danger. When we set our eyes on Christ, there IS NO danger.

One of the quotes from A.D. 30 from Yeshua says, "Do not allow fear to bind you up, dear one. You will only lose what you already have." Fear causes us to forget, to forget the truth, to forget our safety and security. It reveals danger, and then succumbs us to that danger while we are trying to avoid it. We forget, then we retreat, and we lose that which we already have as we hide and are paralyzed.

But fear is not what we have been given. We have been given power and love, and when we fix our eyes on The Truth, danger vanishes, and fear is driven out.

So, what is your greatest fear? Give it up. Remember your security. Fix your eyes on He who commands the storms, and you will no longer know fear, for there will be no fear.

⁽¹⁾ 2 Timothy 1:7
⁽²⁾ 1 John 4:18