Paul Tripp "I was not created to shrink the size of
my life to the size of my felt needs. If
true humanity is bound up in community with God and godly community with God
and godly community with others, I will never experience it when all my eyes
ever see is my own need."
I have heard a lot of fear expressed lately, particularly
with a patient with Ebola flying from Liberia to Dallas. Not unexpectedly, the authorities had
difficulty finding a place willing to accept the exposed family during their
incubation period. That comes from
fear. Some parents are keeping their
children out of school where exposed children had attended. That too comes from fear. I
wonder if the victim of Ebola came to
the US knowing he had been exposed to the illness because he knew he could get
better care here. We may not ever know,
but if so, that was fear. Surprising to
me as a nurse is that I don't hear more fear from parents about the enterovirus
D68 which is seriously affecting children throughout the country. There is also a great deal of fear expressed all
around me with every new instance of terrorism throughout the world.
Now, I am not a stranger to fear. I admit to fearfulness cropping up when I
contemplate my dear granddaughter, Olivia, having her heart surgery this Friday
morning. It is hard to imagine her
little heart being stopped and the holes sewn up without being fearful. When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I had
to fight a battle with fear. That fear
was not mostly rooted in what was going to happen to me, but had to do with the
things I felt I needed to be on this earth to complete (talk about pride!). However, facing my own fears and seeing that
of others makes me aware of how self-centered human fear is. It comes from only seeing a piece of the
puzzle instead of relying on God who sees the whole.
I don't want to minimize fear and anxiety as they are a
real part of our lives, and will be until Christ comes again, but they do come
from the sin of unbelief. Fear comes
from the self-centeredness, however unintentional, of thinking we are in
control; a very frightening thought when you think about it. Many other sins find their root in anxiety or
fearfulness. Stealing, lying, relationship
issues and so many more find fear at their
base.
So, what is the answer?
God tells us in I Peter to humble ourselves under "the mighty hand
of God" casting all our cares on Him.
It is hard to be humble because that means acknowledging that there is
someone else in control. But it is also
very freeing for it means we know God well enough to know that He will sustain
us (Psalm 55:22), give us rest (Matthew 11:28) and work for those who wait for
Him (Isaiah 64:4). We can know, like Job
did, that He can do all things and "...
no purpose of His can be
thwarted" (Job 42:2). We cast off
our fears by praying and laying them at God's feet (Philippians 4:6). We cast off fear by realizing that it will
get us nowhere as Matthew 6 and 10 tell us.
We cast if off by realizing that the God who watches the sparrow fall
and cothes the lillies of the field has all our cares in His hand. God is never taken by surprise (Psalm
121:4). He knows what is going to happen
and He has even the rulers of the lands in His hands. The more we grow to know God the less we will
fear.
Fighting fear is a constant battle but one that must be
fought. It doesn't mean we don't act
responsibly. As a nurse I would have
been a fool to care for patients with infectious diseases without taking proper
precautions. However, it would have been
wrong for me to use fear to prevent me from caring for them. Ebola is almost sure to come to East
Texas. The enterovirus may also. Terrorism may even strike closer to
home. In the meantime Olivia will have
her heart bared open by human hands on Friday, but by hands that are under
God's control. Through all of this I try
to remember, as Matthew 5 says, that we ARE the salt of the earth and we ARE
the light of the world. Those who do not
know Christ are looking at us especially in times like these. Fortunately for us, the light that shines
from us is simply a reflection of Christ's light in us and we don't have to
manufacture it ourselves. What a
testimony that light should be.
