Fear

We all experience it. Every one of us. That awful, awesome, visceral feeling of facing the known or unknown which causes us trepidation and unrest. Sweaty palms. Racing heart. That pit deep in your belly. Despair. Hopelessness. Insufficiency.

You know the feeling.

It affects us, this specter of fear. And specter it is, for it has neither body nor form, can be neither touched nor heard nor sensed in any physical sense but it exists just the same. It is real. As real as is love, as real as is pain. As certain as the cold bite of winter chilling our bones, though we can see neither.

Fear.

It can save your life, or end it. Drive you to seek shelter, or to run blindly into the storm. It can cause the weak to achieve the impossible, and the strong to do nothing. Fear can destroy. Fear can fortify.

Truly awesome is this insubstantial phantom of fear.

Solomon said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and also, "The fear of the Lord leads to life."   Jesus said, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

That is the kind of fear which can save your life. The kind of fear which can cause the weak to achieve the impossible. Fear can fortify.

Fear can also destroy.

Gideon was so paralyzed by fear that though he was a mighty warrior, he was afraid to act. The entire Israelite nation were so afraid that they refused to enter the good land God had prepared for them, and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

The stories go on and on. What's amazing is what happens when people truly fear God more than they fear this world. Gideon conquered an army of 135,000 with 300 men. Caleb and Joshua were the only two from an entire generation of Israelites to see the Promised land. Daniel survived a night in a pit of lions. Jonah was saved from certain death.

Do you see the theme here?

Fear of this world gets you nowhere. Fear of God can take you anywhere.

When that feeling of trepidation comes over you, when your heart races and your mind spins, ask yourself, "What am I afraid of?" Is it more dangerous than lions? Is it more mighty than 135,000 trained warriors? Is that thing or person bigger than Almighty God?

No. It's not. Whatever it is, it's not.

Take a deep breath. Remember Daniel. Remember Joseph. Remember Paul, and Moses, and Abraham, and David and . . . remember God.

Fear Him, and Him alone. For if He be with you, who can stand against you?

Attitude Isn't Everything--But It's A Lot

You've probably seen one of those motivational posters, or maybe a post on social media espousing Attitude is EVERYTHING. Well, I disagree. Sort of.

You can have the best attitude in the world and still have the worst day. Conversely, you can have the worst attitude possible and have everything work out. Some days you do your best, and fail. Other days, despite your worst efforts, God smiles on you.

Attitude isn't everything.

But it is important.

Philippians 2:14 says that we are to Do everything without complaining or arguing. That's all about attitude. It means not only doing what we are supposed to do, but doing so willingly and even--Gasp!--cheerfully. We are not only supposed to do good, we are to do good with the right attitude.

Why? Well, the next verse tells us why. So that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the 
universe . . .

Wow. That's a pretty good reason for having the right attitude.

Paul had more words of advise on attitude for the church in Philippi. In Philippians 4:8 he instructs them, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. 

If that's not about attitude, I don't know what is. He tells them, and God tells us, that we should be thinking about the true, the noble, the right, the pure, the lovely, the admirable--anything that is excellent or praiseworthy. Think about those things. Don't spend your time thinking about what is false, what is ignoble, what is wrong, what is impure, what is unlovely, what is not admirable--don't waste your time on anything that is not excellent or praiseworthy.

I bet if we did that, all the time--only thought about those good and right things and let everything else go--our attitudes would be a whole lot better. I know mine would.

Here's another one. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men. And the reason for this one? It's in the next verse as well. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. 

We don't live for this world. We don't work for this world. We don't exist for this world alone. How different would our lives be if our attitudes reflected that?

There are so many more. Paul starts Colossians 3 with, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Christ said to love God and love our neighbors as the first and second-most commandments. He also said If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all (Mark 9:35). Now that's an attitude adjustment, at least for me, most of the time!

 In my own personal experience, my attitude reflects the status of my relationship with God. When I'm tight with God, my attitude reflects Him. When I'm not, it doesn't. For me, it really is that simple.

My point is this: Attitude isn't everything--God is everything. But our attitudes are so very important to how we respond to God, how we obey God, how we reflect Jesus Christ to the world. So to that end . . .

Attitude isn't everything, but it is a lot!

Change

I have heard it said that change is the only constant in life, and sometimes that seems oh-so-true. I've also heard it said that change is good, and sure, sometimes that's true as well. But not always. Oh, no sir. Not always.

Let's be blunt. I lost my dad 9 years ago. That change hurt, and it still does. Maybe not as much as it did, but if I could go back and undo it--change the change, if you will--would I? In a heartbeat.

Given the chance, I'd change a lot of change in my life. I'd bring back busload of people who have moved away. I'd reverse a whole slew of decisions that rocked my world, and eliminate a sea of waves that have rocked my boat.

But that chance will never come. I cannot rewind the clock. I cannot make that river of time flow back. No one can.

So what's to be done? Do I live life in constant agony over the changes that have come, and dread the ones yet to be?

No. I can't live like that. There's no peace in such a life, no life in such an existence.

So do I embrace change, no matter what change may bring?

No. I can't. If change could be trusted, were it always docile and benign, then sure. Come what may. But heartless monster that change can be, I may not be able to stop it, but I'll not willingly give it carte blanche in my life.

What is left? What options do I have?

Acceptance? Sure. I guess. I mean, what choice do I have?

But I believe there's a better way yet.

Hope.

Yes, hope.

Not as in wishful thinking, but as in blessed assurance. Hope as in God has a plan for me, a plan for my good, not my harm, a plan for a future and a hope, as God said to Jeremiah. Hope as in being strong and courageous, knowing that God will never leave me nor forsake me, just as He told Joshua. Hope as in those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will fly like eagles, they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not be tired, as said by Isaiah.

That's what I mean by hope. Because I know change is coming that's going to hurt. What it will be, I do not not know. But that it will be, of that I am certain. And to face that without hope--honestly, I'd rather die. Truly.

Because I cannot bear the thought of change without hope. Of a world without reason or purpose, which is what I see in change without hope. If every change is simply by chance, if there is no plan, if no one has my back, then I'm done. I'll cash in my chips right now, thank you very much.

But I have hope. I have hope in God who never changes. I have hope in Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday and today and tomorrow. I have hope in the One who works all things out for the good of those who love Him. I have hope, and change can never take that away.

So I face tomorrow, full of changes and a change unto itself, with hope.

That is a better way.