Prayer: Blessed Lord, we ask Your loving care and protection for any who are facing their future with fear. Take those fears from them and help them put their trust in You, that they may feel Your strong arms around them. Touch them with Your renewing love, that they may live beyond fear and with confidence in Your good promises toward them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Last month a photograph set me thinking. An Associated Press photo showed a father hugging his daughter and stepdaughter after the terrible shootings at Santana High School in Santee, California. All three were in shock. The picture stirred up my own anxiety for the well being of my children. Fears are part of life. If it’s not fear for the safety of our family, it might be fear for our economic future. What’s to become of me if I get laid off? It might be fear as you get older and realize you can’t be as independent as you once were. Again, what’s to become of me? It might be fear for our health. The doctor announced that you have cancer or some other dreaded disease. You fear a death sentence has been pronounced. Whatever the particulars happen to be, I can’t imagine anyone who doesn’t have fears. I certainly have my own.
As that AP photo stirred up some of my own fears, it struck me that it’s not unlike driving in a car with a GPS system. GPS stands for global positioning system and it’s being installed in more and more new automobiles. I just saw a commercial for Chevy Impala that shows a man leaving a desert location, driving mindlessly until he’s lost in a snowstorm. Realizing he’s lost, he activates the GPS system and a person calls him with directions so he can drive to safety. Fearful situations are something like that. When we get lost in our fears, we need a heavenly message to guide us beyond fear and to more confident living.
Take Moses, for example. God appeared to Moses in the desert at the burning bush. Exodus 3 says, “The Lord said, ‘I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard them crying out because of the slave drivers. I know how much they’re suffering. I have come to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and bring them from that land to a good land with plenty of room for everyone…. Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh so you can bring my people Israel out of Egypt'” (Exodus 3:7-8a, 10).
“Wait a minute,” said Moses. “‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the people out of Egypt?'” God answered, ” ‘I will be with you.'”
“Then Moses replied to God, ‘Suppose I go to the people Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ What should I tell them?'”
God answered that question, too. You may remember Moses brought up several more objections and God answered every one of them. I don’t know if the Bible uses the word “fear” to describe Moses’ feelings, but for several good reasons, including the possibility of being killed by Pharaoh, Moses was apprehensive about the future. Lost in concern about himself, repeatedly asking, “What’s to become of me?” Moses needed a heavenly message to set him on a confident course to do the work of God and lead the Israelites out of slavery.
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane shows us the better way. Moses may well have been apprehensive about dying, but Jesus knew for a fact He wasn’t going to get out of the week alive. Several times in the Bible Jesus told His disciples He was going to Jerusalem where He would be betrayed and put to death. He may have said that even more times than the Bible reports. Now the doctor may tell you your diagnosis is not a death sentence. Jesus knew that now a death sentence was going to be pronounced upon Him, Jesus said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Mark 14:34). He went into the garden of Gethsemane, “. . .knelt down, and prayed, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup of suffering away from Me. However, Your will must be done, not mine'” (Luke 22:41-42).
Here’s the difference between Moses and the Savior. Moses was understandably anxious about his future. “What’s to become of me?” Jesus, on the other hand, while not doing cartwheels about the suffering about to come His way, was more focused outside of Himself, focused on His Father’s will. This outward focus characterized His entire ministry. In Mark 10:45 Jesus says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). To put it in global positioning terms, when Moses was lost in fretting about the future, God had to get Moses’ thoughts off of Moses and onto God. When Jesus was in Gethsemane, He was sorrowful unto death but He faced His future with confidence because He was already attuned to the heavenly Father’s will. You and I are by nature more like Moses. When I am fearful for my family or you for yours, it’s because our sinful nature turns in on itself. When you’re anxious about your economic future or health prospects, your sinful nature is turning in on itself. “What’s to become of me?” That’s understandable, but when we are lost in our fears we need a heavenly message to direct us to more confident living. We are like Moses but the goal is to be more like Jesus.
1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
When you’re lost in fears or I in mine, the GPS, “God’s positioning system,” sends down a message to move us beyond fear and to more confident living. “Fear,” St. John wrote, “has to do with punishment.” There’s a lot for which we rightfully can be punished. The child who has misbehaved is fearful when hauled to the principal’s office. Something fearful happens in your life and you wonder, “Is God punishing me?” Even if everything is going along nicely, you still may be apprehensive, just waiting for something bad to happen, for “the other shoe to drop,” as they say. “Fear has to do with punishment.”
The message that comes down from heaven is that God has already done the punishing. That’s what Gethsemane and Calvary were all about. To serve you, not to serve Himself, Jesus gave His life as a ransom and paid the price for all your sins. Yes, bad things do come our way but God is not punishing you. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.” In ways often known only in His divine wisdom, the bad things, the fearful things, are used by God to increase our dependence upon Him, our outward, not inward, focus. God’s positioning system did that for reluctant Moses. Despite his understandable fears, Moses went and did great things in confidence upon the Lord. God’s love is ready to position you to move beyond fear and confidently face anything in your future.
I’m talking about a real confidence for the future based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The book of Hebrews says, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2-3). Yes, Jesus gave His life as a ransom for your sins. What’s more, He rose and ascended into heaven to open the way for you to endure the hardships of this present life with your faith focused on a glorious future in heaven. Easter is the proof that God wants to position you beyond fear and give you confidence for the future. The poet says, “Jesus, my Redeemer lives; I, too, unto life shall waken. Endless joy my Savior gives; Shall my courage then be shaken? Shall I fear, or could the head rise and leave His members dead?” The answer is “No way,” not with God’s positioning system of love.
One final theological point. Christians often bandy about Romans 8:28. It says, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” We misuse that passage when we blithely tell a fearful soul, “It’ll be OK.” The Bible doesn’t warrant our dispensing such carefree comfort. It doesn’t work, anyway. The doctor says you have cancer. You are fearful. A friend says, “It’ll be OK. You know, all things work together for good.” That’s not substantial spiritual comfort. It doesn’t get down into the mind and heart and position you to face the future with real confidence.
The passage says, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” To love God means you direct your thoughts and feelings outside of yourself to God. Instead of looking in on yourself, instead of worrying, “What’s to become of me?” the love of God draws you away from preoccupation with yourself and to the heavenly message. Exercising love for God moves your mind and affections to all that He has done for you; to meditate upon the Savior He has given you from sin and punishment; and to trust the wonderful promises in the Scriptures the Spirit uses to sustain you in rough times. God’s positioning system. When you are lost in fear, the love that God has for you is the heavenly message that directs you beyond fear and confidently into the future.
Bill Shimkus is a friend of mine. Bill’s a pastor in Idaho Falls, Idaho, and sends me his monthly newsletter. In a recent issue he told a story about fear. Pastor Shimkus wrote, “If you have ever been in a blizzard, you know how dangerous they can be-with heavy, blinding snow and driving wind which piles the snow into high drifts and blows the cold right through you.
“At the turn of the last century, two men were caught in such a blizzard while riding in a horse-drawn sleigh. Feeling afraid and almost frozen, they thought they would never reach their homes safely. Suddenly, they passed another traveler lying in the snow. ‘If he stays there, he will surely die from the cold,’ said one of the men. ‘Let’s stop and help him.’
“The other refused. ‘If we stop and help, then we will never reach home safely. I insist that we keep going.’
“‘You go on,’ said the first one, jumping from the sleigh. ‘I’m staying to help.’ Immediately, forgetting about himself, he began the task of massaging the body of the badly frostbitten man to get his blood flowing through the body again. After a great deal of hard work, the man began to show some signs of life and was saved. The rescuer was also saved. His work to help the other man also kept his body active and alive until help could arrive.
“What about the third man who refused to stop and help? They found him further down the road-frozen to death.
Pastor Shimkus summarizes the story saying, “Fear will do that to a person. Like the man in the story who stayed in the sleigh, fear makes our vision become narrow until we see only our own needs.”
“Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” That’s God’s positioning system. Speaking for myself, I have not been made perfect in love. I know you haven’t either, not on this side of eternity. So we close today’s message and face the future with this prayer, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.” Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for April 29, 2001
ANNOUNCER: In the question and answer segment, I’m Mark Eischer. Joining me is Dr. Dale Meyer. A listener writes: “Dr. Meyer, my life is packed with commitments. How can I balance, work, marriage and my responsibilities as a parent?”
MEYER: That’s a typical question for this day and age. My response is priorities. As a Christian we know what the priority is. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you.” Jesus said those words on the Sermon on the Mount. I have found in my own personal experience that daily devotion is a tremendous help in coping with the stresses and strains of the day. I usually do this in the morning before I begin other activity. I take some time to think about my own thoughts and feelings, read a passage from the Word of God, reflect upon it, and then say my prayers. I can tell you over the years I’ve been doing this, it helps me sort out the day’s agenda. It helps me decide what truly is a priority and what I can let go. It steals me to take criticism for some things and enjoy what I decide needs to be done. It really is a great blessing. Sometimes, however I’m not able to do this, let’s say because I’ve got an early appointment. I miss it. It makes a practical difference in my life, and it’s not simply because it makes a practical difference. We know the Word of God as Hebrews tells us is lively and active. This is God working on me. It will be God working in you to develop and nurture this faith and it will help you cope much better in life. I should throw in this quick word, too. I’m in my mid-50s. The children are grown, out of the house and that time of greater peace will come to you. Again, the Word of God, Ecclesiastes. 3:1: “To everything there is a season.” So hang in there. You can be sure the pressures are going to abate in years to come.
ANNOUNCER: Here’s a related question. Dr. Meyer, like many families today, we’ve a very hectic schedule. Lately though, we’ve noticed the little time we do spend together is increasingly confrontational. What can we do to reverse this trend?
MEYER: I think that demonstrates what we’re talking about. When do I get angry? Why do I snap at family members when I’m tired? We are leading such busy, hectic lives these days, when we finally do get home it’s more likely we’re going to bite each other’s heads off. This is not unusual. Professor William Doherty, author of “Take Back Your Kids: Confident Parenting in Turbulent Times” says, “I think we’ve pushed activities to the breaking point for many families.” So this is a normal situation. What are we going to do about it? First of all, remember the family is a divine institution. Husband and wife don’t simply co-habit. They are to reflect the love that Christ has for his bride, the church. You want to keep that goal in your relationship with your husband or wife. Secondly, the family’s the place where God ordained children to be raised. Being a parent is a divine office. It’s not just something that happens. God has placed children in your home for a short time and He expects you to train them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. That said, how are you going to do it? I’ll go back to something I said several months ago on the radio. Try and eat as many dinners together as possible. I had a message called “Please Pass the Good Word.” It was message #23. Give us a call, we’ll send it to you. I found in my own experience, a lot of great stuff can happen by simply eating meals together. It’s not brain surgery. It’s not rocket science, but it’s the nature of a family together around a meal. There will be blessings that come from that.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Dr. Meyer. With that, we come to the end of our broadcast for another week.