I have heard a Doctors diagnosis and the future did not seem long for someone. It was right then that my faith and my fears collided. Now understand, fears can be good, I believe that fears can help you through perilous times. Fears can be there as guardrails to our behavior and decision making process. But here's the key point: They are "guard" rails not "guide" rails.
When I have fears in leading a church or in my own personal life, I understand then and there, that the only way to deal with my fear is with my faith. If I allow fear to go unchecked by my faith, fear takes over. And you know what I found out about fear? Fear is a bully. When we are GUIDED by fear, we pray without faith, we worship without awe, we serve without joy, we suffer without hope, and the result is a life of stagnation and no vision. Fear causes us to withhold and not be a generous giver. It causes us to trust only in what we see and not in God's promises. When we fear, we have an inability to persevere and see it through.
Fear is a big
bully. It pushes us around, tells
us how to act, how to live and what we can and cannot do. I find that many people choose to live
in fear. Many churches do too.
When a church is GUIDED by fear instead of GUARDED by fear it shrinks back. In fact, it shrinks God. We start living and worshiping a small, unattached, inept God.
Fear is good when placed and used in right way. Fear is never to guide our paths. It is only serving to God's will when it guards us from foolishness.
Take care,
Rod
Fear is good when placed and used in right way. Fear is never to guide our paths. It is only serving to God's will when it guards us from foolishness.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. 2 Timothy 1: 7
In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear). Ephesians 3: 12
So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me? Hebrews 13: 6
Rod
Absolutely! Good Scripture choices too. I wonder if cheerful generosity falls into that category of things we are called to rather than gifted for, like sharing our faith. It probably is since it was such a major characteristic of the early Jerusalem church in Acts. As you said, fear causes us to withhold rather than be generous. Thanks for the good word!
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