To be honest, I can’t remember what triggered the thought process that led to this post. But what I can remember is that shortly after I had briefly processed said thought, my brother played a short Joseph Prince message excerpt on YouTube for me. And I remember thinking, “that’s exactly what I was thinking in my head a few days ago.”
And for me, when that happens, it just makes me think it’s something GOD may be wanting to highlight in my life.
So my thinking was along the lines of: Since GOD is love (1st John 4:8) and perfect love drives out fear (1st John 4:18), then it must be that the opposite of love is likely fear, not really hate or evil; and that hateful and evil acts are responses from/of fear.
I feel like at the root of anything, or maybe most things, that are not of GOD is ‘fear’. Fear of something, fear of missing out, fear of being in, fear of man, fear of the future, fear of losing control, fear of _____.
So I decided to think about different vices and experiences of man that are not of GOD. And here are some of the ones I could think about:
Lying, exaggeration, pretence, eye-service ⇒ fear of losing face, fear of man; Stealing, cheating, worry ⇒ fear of being without; Anxiety, panic attacks, worry ⇒ fear of (the consequences of) things not working out (as you have planned); Pride ⇒ fear of not being seen as the best; Gossip ⇒ fear of being seen as not in the know; Manipulation, control ⇒ fear of not being in control or being taken advantage of; Bitterness, unforgiveness ⇒ fear of being seen as weak or letting go of justice; Compromise ⇒ fear of missing/being left out, fear of man, fear of being seen as weird;
I’m sure there are many more I could write about. But for me these are more enough to make me think and find out a lot quicker, what is at the root of any issues I may be struggling with. Once I can put a finger on what I am afraid, I find I am better placed to deal with the wrong fruit that is manifesting in my life.
With this, instead of just cutting off the fruits, hoping for the roots to die, I am uprooting the roots which will eventually lead to the fruits dying off. Even the Bible says there’s still hope for a tree that has just been cut off, it can still sprout out (Job 14:7-9).
From our earthly father, Adam, the devil planted a seed of fear of missing out on being like GOD, that Mr & Mrs Adam, decided to make sure that did not happen in responding to that fear by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (see Genesis 3).
Abraham had Ishmael from fear of not having an heir (Genesis 16).
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery for fear that his dreams would actually come true and he would rule over them (Genesis 37).
King Saul hunted for David’s life for fear of another taking his throne (from 1st Samuel 18).
King David killed Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba’s husband from fear of being found out (2nd Samuel 11).
Even Jesus was crucified by the religious leaders of back-in-the-day because they were afraid of losing their privileges, of having their misdeeds come to light (the Gospels).
I hope with these few examples, you can see that most if not all not-of/from-GOD attitudes and actions are rooted in fear.
So the next time you think or act in a way that is not glorifying to GOD, try and ask yourself this question:
What am I afraid of in this situation?
And then go ahead and deal with that issue.
To your freedom from fear, . . .
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