Fear Not

Fear Not

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Tim. 1:7)

Fear is not a Christian trait.  Fear, not hatred, is the opposite of love, and we serve a God of love.

We have people all over the New Testament who were afraid, but whenever one of God’s people is frightened, God or one of His messengers tells that person to not be afraid.    When Joseph was confused about Mary being pregnant, he was about to divorce her quietly, but an angel told him not to be afraid:

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (Matt 1:20)

When the angel appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus, they were afraid, but the angel told them not to be frightened:

⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  (Luke 2:9-10)

When Jesus walked on water beside the disciples’ boat, they were terrified, but Jesus Himself told them not to be afraid:

²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (Matt. 14:26-27)

Even when Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after His resurrection, they were afraid, but Jesus showed them there was no reason to be so:

³⁶ As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷ But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸ And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” (Luke 24:36-39)

Why is this important?

Those were all pretty scary events.  Imagine an angel showing up at your home.  I don’t care if he was coming to tell me he was from Publisher’s Clearinghouse with a check, I’d still be terrified by his presence.

The message from these passages for us should be fear is not a trait of God’s people.  For those who do not know Christ, there is much to fear.  But, for those of us who are children of God, there is nothing for us to be afraid of.  I think the best example of this is when the women went to the tomb.  There were two parties there, the soldiers and the women: the lost and the people of God.  What the angel said fascinates me:

⁵ But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (Matt. 26:5-6)

He didn’t tell the terrified soldiers not to be afraid; he said that to the women, to God’s people. 

We let a late check, a late flight, or a dark period frighten us just as the disciples did, but like 1 Thessalonians says, we should not be terrified of the dark.  We are children of the Light.

⁵ For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. (1 Thess 5:5)

As Christians we carry slogans sometimes: “One Way,” “What Would Jesus Do.”  Maybe it would be s good time for us to adopt a new one: “Fear Not.”