How Fear Fools Us
For Halloween this year, one home in our neighborhood went all out with decorations. Skeletons everywhere. Bats. Cobwebs. A coffin. You name it. My youngest son was horrified by this. He said it creeped him out. Every time we drive by this house he turns away. I made sure he knew they were not real but he doesn’t care. He still has apprehension when we go by this house. As unfounded as they are, his fears cause him to modify his behavior.
Fear is a powerful force. In some cases fear can be a good thing. Fear can keep us from putting ourselves into harm’s way. Fear can keep us from making foolish choices. However, in many other cases fear is a tool of Satan. There are many ways Satan uses fear in our lives, but a major way is the fear of man. In this day image is everything. If others don’t view us with approval we get anxious. We live for the applause, approval, and affirmation of people around us. We make decisions based on our predictions of the perceptions of others. We fear not just what others think of us but what others might do to us. Certainly, there are some things about which thinking people should rightfully be fearful. But in general, fear is something that will mislead us. Here’s why.
Isaiah 52:12-13 says: “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies and the son of man who is made like grass, that you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, as he makes ready to destroy? But where is the fury of the oppressor?”
I love how Isaiah puts it. Who are we to be afraid of man who dies? When we live in fear of others, we are elevating ourselves and our fears above reality. Any person that we fear, while they may have some power over us is ultimately someone who will pass away. To fear others is to forget God. Fear is not the outlook of a man or woman of faith. Isaiah reminds us that fear causes us to wallow in it all day long. When he asks “where is the fury of the oppressor?” he is reminding us that most of the fears we have never are fulfilled.
What’s the antidote to fear? Remember the Lord. If we can keep our eyes on the Lord, if we can remember that He is the same God who created everything, we will be able to stand firm. The God who spoke creation into existence is our helper. Just a few chapters earlier God tells His people: “I will contend with the one one who contends with you.” That doesn’t mean God will keep us from harm in all situations but it does mean that God is just and He will bring justice for His people. What do we have to fear?