After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
“Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
I am your shield,
your very great reward.”
Genesis 15:1,2
What are you afraid of? Everyone is afraid of something to a certain degree. And I'm not talking about snakes, spiders, sharks, the dark, heights, etc., I'm talking about the fears behind those fears. I'm talking about
- the fear of failure
- the fear of rejection
- the fear of death
- the fear of getting old
- the fear of loneliness
- the fear of losing your job
- the fear of not having enough money
- the fear of inadequacy
- the fear of being judged
- the fear of being mocked
- the fear of change
- the fear of the unknown
What was Abram afraid of in this passage? Yes, the Father of faith was a man just like us who suffered from fear. The man who the three major religions of the world claim as their father - Christianity, Islam, Judaism - was a man prone to being afraid. He had just won a great battle routing 4 kings who had just defeated 5 kings, and he did it with 138 men. You would think that an act of bravery such as this would defeat fear once and for all. Yet, God tells him, "Do not be afraid". Is it possible that he thought to himself, "I have just made myself an enemy to all of Mesopotamia, not to mention I just insulted the kings I rescued by refusing their kindness. Surely my time on Earth is short." We know from Genesis 12 that he did have a fear of death even to the degree that he let the Pharaoh have his wife rather than risk his life. Maybe he was afraid of failure or being mocked. The family that he left in Ur could say, "You left everything with your menopausal wife to start a nation like the stars in the sky? How's that working out for you. Ha Ha Ha!" Maybe he was afraid of poverty. He just turned down massive amounts of wealth out of principle plus Lot took the fertile soil and left him with desert to raise his flocks. Since livestock equals wealth back then, it's possible that was causing him some fear.
Whatever it was that God was addressing, we can relate, right? Need I convince you that you have a fear of death? Do you own a gun at home for protection? Do you lock your doors at night? Do you refuse to travel to the middle east? Do you have a cancer phobia? Why are people afraid of sharks, snakes, germs, heights - because those things can kill you. Need I convince you that you have a fear of failure or being mocked? Do you want to be considered a bad parent, a poor businessman, a waste of a life, unemployable due to a bad resume, unsuccessful? Need I convince you that you have the fear of going broke? If not, quit your job, lose your house, have your car repossessed and move in with your parents. Isn't this why we save, budget, work one or two jobs, or vote the way we do? Doesn't the fear of poverty set our alarm clocks every morning?
As I write this, I see that actually, fear is a decent motivator. The problem is that it leads to anger, resentment, anxiety, and unhappiness. Wouldn't it be better that I wake up in the morning to go to work because I love my job? Love far surpasses fear. In fact 1John says that "Perfect love casts out fear".
Looking back at Abraham, God tells him, "Don't be afraid; I am your great reward." Do we really catch the significance of this? We tend to get this so wrong in Christianity. Why do we pray? To receive answers of course. To put things in God's hands or surrender control to Him in submission for sure. But what if we saw it as meeting with Him was the great reward in prayer and the answers are trivial compared to that. Why do we get saved? To live eternally, to have our sins forgiven, to go to Heaven - that's a no-brainer. Or is it to get Him, our great reward? Do we see eternal life, sins forgiven, and Heaven as amazing because it brings us forever into His presence? When we think of the blessings God pours on us His children, do we think of health, material blessings, a good family, joy, peace, friends, etc. or do we think of I have a God who loves me and knows my name and I'm getting to know Him better and better?
As this mindset starts sinking in, this all encompassing love relationship with God, fear should be cast out. Look at some of the different fears
- the fear of failure; when God is your great reward and you have Him you already are a success so failing at Earthly endeavors is like losing at checkers - it really doesn't matter
- the fear of death; death brings us into the presence of our Great reward so what is there to fear?
- the fear of rejection; the One whose opinion matters the most loves us the most and will never reject us
- the fear of loneliness; He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother
- the fear of poverty; if He is our great reward, we have riches beyond compare in every condition in which we live.
- the fear of change or the unknown - everywhere we go, He is there so there is no anxiety or unfamiliarity.
Whatever fear you can imagine, if He is truly our great reward, every fear should disappear in the beauty of Him.
Looking back at Abraham, God tells him, "Don't be afraid; I am your great reward." Do we really catch the significance of this? We tend to get this so wrong in Christianity. Why do we pray? To receive answers of course. To put things in God's hands or surrender control to Him in submission for sure. But what if we saw it as meeting with Him was the great reward in prayer and the answers are trivial compared to that. Why do we get saved? To live eternally, to have our sins forgiven, to go to Heaven - that's a no-brainer. Or is it to get Him, our great reward? Do we see eternal life, sins forgiven, and Heaven as amazing because it brings us forever into His presence? When we think of the blessings God pours on us His children, do we think of health, material blessings, a good family, joy, peace, friends, etc. or do we think of I have a God who loves me and knows my name and I'm getting to know Him better and better?
As this mindset starts sinking in, this all encompassing love relationship with God, fear should be cast out. Look at some of the different fears
- the fear of failure; when God is your great reward and you have Him you already are a success so failing at Earthly endeavors is like losing at checkers - it really doesn't matter
- the fear of death; death brings us into the presence of our Great reward so what is there to fear?
- the fear of rejection; the One whose opinion matters the most loves us the most and will never reject us
- the fear of loneliness; He is the friend who sticks closer than a brother
- the fear of poverty; if He is our great reward, we have riches beyond compare in every condition in which we live.
- the fear of change or the unknown - everywhere we go, He is there so there is no anxiety or unfamiliarity.
Whatever fear you can imagine, if He is truly our great reward, every fear should disappear in the beauty of Him.
