On Fear and Faith

Friday morning (just barely), October 26, 2007
Your responses to yesterday’s “perspective” let me know that fear is very much a part of the life of those of us who call ourselves His, but they also let me know that faith is also very much a part of our lives. Interestingly, out of all of the responses I received, I received only one that indicated otherwise—that if we really have faith, then we should have no fear.
As I was writing the previous paragraph, I received a call from one of God’s children, whose daughter-in-law just delivered a 2 pound, 4.5 ounce baby girl. As you might imagine, the past several days have been very difficult for this family, as the mother’s cervix was dilating very prematurely. To say that another way: this family has been fearfully trusting over the past several days. There is no doubt in my mind that they have had utmost confidence (faith) in God and in His ability to carry out His perfect plan for this family; however, there is also no doubt in my mind that they have experienced fear—the kind of fear that any human being would have, at the thought of losing a child and/or a grandchild. In my opinion, the Psalmist’s words, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Him”, becomes very precious in such times!
Go ahead and try to tell these precious folks that if they had really been trusting God, they would have had no fear; well, on second thought, please do not be that foolish. The truth is they are continuing to fearfully trust because this baby is very premature and they want it to survive and to thrive. Yes, I know that some would say that if they really trusted God, they would simply want what He wants, even if that means that the baby will not survive but, somehow, that mindset simply does not fit with what I know about Jesus. His “not my will but Thine be done” cry does in fact declare that, in that Gethsemane experience, His will and God’s will were opposed to each other. Granted, He did (finally) make the “. . .but Thine (will) be done” statement, but that did not remove the anxiety and fear that He was experiencing. He was a genuine man, even with feelings, in case you have forgotten, and certainly a man of perfect faith.
I will be the first to tell you that I have absolutely no fear concerning my relationship with Jesus, my security as a believer, my righteousness, or my eternal life; to be sure, His perfect love for me does, indeed, continually cast out those fears. If, however, I am to be honest with you, then I must also be the first to tell you that I would be experiencing the very same fear that this family is experiencing, if I were in their “shoes” and in various ways, I have been on many occasions.
Even if I live to be 100, I will never forget the night before my son’s 17th birthday, when he was involved in a terrible auto accident. When I knelt beside him in the brush and rubble, the first words out of his mouth were these: “Daddy, I am about to die, aren’t I” and my response was this: “Not if I can help it!” The picture that is even more vivid in my mind is when I was standing beside his ER gurney, realizing that it was very possible that he was going to die, and with a huge lump in my throat, saying, “God I release Him to you, which is all I know to do.” Was I fearful? You can rest assured that I was not only fearful, I was “scared to death” BUT I was also trusting—FEARFULLY TRUSTING—my Father to allow my son to survive and to thrive. In the end, He did and I am very thankful; however, I know of many other similar situations, where He did not, and I can only tell you that those parents were fearfully trusting, as well.
Sometimes, God does not do what we want Him to do and knowing that fact precipitates fear—always—but it also always gives birth to faith—great faith!