Word of the Week: Fear
Fall means more than sweaters and pumpkin spice. In these parts, it also means deer. Lots and lots of deer. I see them out in force, especially as I drive at night. Sometimes they rush off into the trees as I go by. More frighteningly, sometimes they run across the road as I’m coming. But other times they just stare. They stare like…well, a deer in the headlights. That saying came from somewhere, after all.
A deer in the headlights might describe many of us when asked for a reason for the hope that is in us. We long to talk about Jesus with others but, when the moment comes, we lock up. Our thoughts jumble. Our tongues get tied. Have you been there?
In 1 Peter 3:15-16, Peter instructs us to be prepared to make a defense when asked. As Christians, we should be ready to speak of Jesus and the hope he gives us. How do we go from a deer in the headlights to a prepared defender? Fear. Not the fear of man that locks us up, but a fear of the Lord that moves us out of our comforts and into following Jesus.
Many of us fear others. We fear what they think. We fear what they might say. It’s often that fear that makes us freeze up. However, when we’re more concerned with the Lord and what he says, we’ll be bolder to speak of our hope.
In Acts 5, the apostles were dragged before the courts for preaching the gospel. They were sternly warned to stop. Otherwise, they would be punished. But in Acts 5:29, Peter replied, “We must obey God rather then men.” Were the apostles afraid of what the authorities might do? I would certainly think so! But whatever fear they had for man, they had greater fear for the Lord. If the choice came between upsetting the authorities or disappointing God, then they would just have to upset the authorities.
Friend, who do you fear more than the Lord? Whose approval do you seek? What boat do you avoid rocking? Are there ways that fear of others keeps you silent or even disobedient to God? The only way to break free of that is to see that the Lord is God. He’s the one we fear.