Overcoming fear in fearful times

When we were leading a youth missions and outreach group, one of the founding principles was to instil in the young people a faith that worked.  It was no good knowing that God was your provider if you could not trust him to provide to go on a mission trip. It was not enough to know that God was the healer if you could not pray with any level of confidence or faith that God heals. It was not sufficient to know that God has given us his gifts, if we secretly believe that He doesn’t use us. 

One of the most amazing things was seeing these young people move out in increasing faith to believe that God would use and provide for them and He did.  

I believe it is a similar scenario today concerning the virus.  Many churches and ministries are reaching out online, by phone, email, WhatsApp and all manner of social media to make sure we are connected and supported. It is all fantastic and I cannot recommend them enough. We must follow all the reputable advice from both world and spiritual sources. But what is our response as individual Christians to the days we find ourselves in? 

There seem to be some major fears surrounding the virus – fear of death, fear of sickness and fear of lack.  As Christians we do not live in fear but faith. These are days though when we have to put our faith into action. Let us never forget:

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.

 Great is the Lord in Zion;  he is exalted over all the nations.
Let them praise your great and awesome name – he is holy. Psalm 91:1 – 3 

Despite what is happening, God is still enthroned and in control.

The first thing we can do is deal with our own fear. We can never help others when we are bound by fear. A great start is to declare Scriptures such as these out loud .

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1: 7

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26: 3

Then let’s deal with each of these fears one by one.

Fear of death. The world is terrified of death but as Christians we do not need to fear death. It is not a dreaded unknown, we know where we will be and with whom. It is not a door to fear but a doorway to a wonderful new life for eternity with Jesus. How amazing is that? We may not feel ready yet for death but Paul wrote For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Philippians 1: 21). He couldn’t decide which was better; to stay with everyone and continue his ministry or to go to the Lord I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far (Philippians 1: 23). Paul knew being with the Lord was better by far. 

We will all die sometime. What is vital is that we know where we go when we die. This virus is a great opportunity to speak to fearful people about the Lord, the Prince of Peace.

Fear of sickness. God said ‘ I am the Lord who heals you.’   Jesus showed throughout his ministry that he was the healer, he healed everyone (Matthew 4: 24) and we see that throughout the New Testament the disciples continued the ministry of healing.  Can I state one thing here? God did not send this virus as a judgement to the earth or any particular nation. Jesus came to heal the sick, not bring sickness. There is no sickness in heaven. Sickness is a result of the Fall and the devil’s activity. God loves people. None of us would bring sickness to our beloved family to teach them a lesson. Why would God?  

We can pray confidently for God to protect us using Psalm 91 or by taking communion each day. Remember that by his wounds, we are healed (Isaiah 53: 5). As we take the bread let us approach God confidently for healing; his perfect body took our sicknesses and exchanged them for health and wellbeing. As we take the cup, let us pray the blood of Jesus over our families and loved ones, our leaders and our nation. The blood is a sign of the New Covenant that God will be our God and will protect and look after us.

Fear of lack. The Bible has so much to say that we never need to fear going short.. God is Jehovah Jireh – our provider. Just look at Luke 6: 38 or 2 Corinthians 9: 38 which in the context of giving says And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. God will provide for us.

God is for us. Let’s have a faith worth living for, faith that works. Let us bring our fears to him and let him stir faith in our hearts that we can trust God in these difficult days to not only be all we need, but to enable us to bring the hope of Jesus to those living in fear at this time. 

Human beings or human doings?

I am sure we are all familiar with the concept that we are human beings not human doings, by which we mean that it is more important who we are and our character than what we do.

This idea came out of a desire to counterbalance the false thinking that we can earn our way into heaven or God’s favour by what we do. Salvation is by faith in Christ alone and is a gift of grace. There is nothing we can do to earn or deserve God’s love and salvation. 

There is another true but perhaps not so helpful saying that you can never do anything to increase or take away God’s love for you. This does not mean however that we do not need to do anything or that works of service are unimportant.

God’s love towards us is constant and never fails. Nothing we say or do changes this but times spent with Jesus increase our awareness of that love. This is never wasted time. It is in this place of intimacy that we both receive and give love. It is here that we can be honest with God and ourselves and let him bring healing and freedom from sin.  It is here that we hear from him, we learn and are inspired and it is from here that our works of love and service flow.

Some believers in the early Church were convinced they did not need to do anything as long as they had faith. James, the Lord’s brother, had something to say about that.

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, ‘You have faith; I have deeds.’ Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. James 2: 14 – 18

James firmly shows that out faith needs actions.

In everything Jesus is our example  - God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Acts 10: 38

Jesus had the most intimate relationship with the Father but he showed his love for others by what he did and so must we. He loved them through teaching but also through signs, wonders and miracles. Jesus expressed his love to the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners – so must we.

The amazing statement ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19: 10) was spoken in the context of Jesus visiting Zacchaeus, the tax collector who was fond of stealing from people.  Jesus showed his love by coming to Zacchaeus’ home. Many criticised his actions but Jesus’ life was one long faith in action one.

We are indeed human beings and who we are is incredibly important. Character matters but so do our actions, as long as they flow out of a love relationship with Jesus and not out of some misguided desire to impress or win favour with either God or man. Doing God’s love is a powerful way of showing God’s love.