Banishing monsters

The New Testament book of Hebrews speaks of Christ as superior to the old ways. When the author gets to chapter 12, he begins to lay out the response I should have to the wonderful faithfulness of God. I’m to lay aside sin, run with endurance, heed His discipline, strive for peace with others, abandon bitterness, and pay attention to God because He is a consuming fire. Then into chapter 13, he says to continue in brotherly love, keep marriage pure, and don’t fall in love with money . . .

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5–6)

While the promise to never be forsaken seems connected to an inordinate attachment to money, it seems to me that this is the foundation for all of how God wants me to respond to Him. He is here. He will never leave me. Nothing or no one can change that. Because of His presence, I can do as He asks.

Years ago, I was reading one of those classics about the faith. I cannot remember who wrote it, but he said something like this: the presence of God is like the very air about us. Since reading that, whenever I want to experience God’s nearness, I think about the atmosphere around me and am instantly aware of Him.

This is not a gimmick. It is a reality because He is everywhere, including right here. He will never leave me, and even more, He is my helper. I’ve nothing to fear. I can do all that He asks. If I had to do it without help, I would have no such confidence.

Yet fears do trickle in when a danger looms on the horizon. Like Chambers says, I may not be a coward about a fear and plan on facing it, yet there is a dread. On a small scale, it could be a dentist appointment for a root canal, or a cardio-version for an irregular heartbeat. But it could also be the terminal illness of someone I love (or my own termination). Life is filled with things that could be feared.

For me, this promise of God is for those things that rear up like monsters in the night and try to take my eyes off the fact of Him. The only way to meet this kind of fear is to take a deep breath and remember what God says. Plaster those words all over the monster. Refuse to let those threats fill my heart. Trust God. He cares; the monster does not.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

I’ve said it before and must repeat it again: fear and agitation, worry and doubt, even sin, are all impossible when realizing the presence of the Lord. I do not have to do this alone. He is here — so all monsters of darkness must leave.

Fear can control our lives

In reading the book of Job today, I remembered an early statement he made about “the things he feared had happened.” He said this after losing almost everything, including his children. He did not know, and was never told, that his faith was being proven to Satan who had challenged God. This was spiritual war at the highest level. Job’s situation went far beyond his fears and calamities.

Chambers’ topic today is fear. Both his devotional and Job got me thinking. Did the people in Fort McMurray fear their city would burn? Did the family of the victim in a gun fight fear that their son would die in a hail of bullets? Did the woman just diagnosed with lung cancer fear that she would get this terrible disease? I know that many people are fearful about many things.

This kind of fear is a powerful controller of lives. It isn’t merely being anxious that something bad will happen. It is more like a lack of courage that can drive normal, intelligent people into abnormal and foolish behavior. Yet this fear is not from God “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7). In this verse, some Bible versions call this ‘timidity.’  

Often being timid is related to concerns that other people can harm them. For this, God says to His people: 

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Others, like Job, were more concerned about what God could do or allow to happen in their lives. I relate more to this fear. Like Job, this is a spiritual war because the more I determine to obey the Lord, it seems that the more Satan determines to challenge God about me. “She only believes because You put a hedge of protection around her. Take that away and see what happens. She will give up trusting You . . . .” (see Job 1:8-11)

God promises to never forsake me or fail me, yet He makes no promise that life will be like heaven — without any pain or perversities, without anything that will stretch me, or put my faith to the test.

People have remarked on my vast experiences and unusual events, but do not realize that much of those were tests of faith and came at a cost. When God wants to prove that I will trust Him no matter what, then I’d better determine to hang on tight, rely on Him as my helper, and not waste time or energy listening to my fears or any fear-mongers who try to analyze what is going on.

As for the verse in Hebrews, love of money equals trusting money. Not only that, love of information and education equals trusting brain-power. Love of being in control equals trusting my own might and power. The Bible tells me:

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

Fear is the direct result of setting aside God as all that I need. Some say the things that we fear never come to pass, but Job and my own experiences prove otherwise. Sometimes they do happen, but even then, I am to trust the Lord who is with me, loves me, and is my helper.

These thoughts are timely. A family matter has me fearful — another test. Will I trust God? Or will I go around with a knot in my stomach because I’m afraid of what could happen and afraid that my faith will fold under this looming test? I’m thankful that God will help, and will not forsake!

One thing that I will never lack . . .

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)

This morning I read Nehemiah 9. Most of it is a prayer that reviews all that God had done for His people and they were expressing their gratitude to Him. So I was thinking about His blessings on my life as I opened the Bible to Psalm 23.

Verse 1 says “. . . I shall not want.” I tend to interpret this as a declaration of contentment because the Shepherd has taken care of all David’s wants. But I also know there is a difference between having all we want, and wanting all we have, between desire and satisfaction.

Then I read the devotional author’s remarks. He said that this verse is not about having everything or even being content. It goes deeper than physical and material blessings. At the time David wrote it, he was deprived, hunted by his enemies and deserted by many supporters. His life was full of discomfort and insecurity. He lived on the run and off the land, without physical possessions, home and family. His words in verse 1 are not about wanting or even about what he lacked. It is about his relationship to the Lord and it could read, “No matter what hardships come my way, I am confident that I will never lack the expert and tender care of my Shepherd . . .”

David was not focused on the stuff God gives, but about His care. He was not praising God for being without needs, but for having a supply that never fails and will carry him through both plenty and poverty.

Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:10–11)

I cannot be self-focused in this. I might have all the stuff I need, all the friends, and comforts of life, at least at the moment, but this is not true for every Christian.

Hebrews 11:36–38 says some “suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

God’s people do suffer emptiness and insecurity, or even worse. We can also experience physical and material need and deeply feel our need. What David is saying is that he never felt abandoned by God, His Shepherd who watches over him. Jesus repeated David’s thoughts this way . . .

 . . . Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on . . . Look at the birds . . . Consider the lilies . . . do not be anxious . . .  your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you . . . (Matthew 6:25–34)

God promises to take care of His people. I can rest in that promise, but must also watch that I am satisfied with His care. I could always want more (and am prone to do that) or even be fearful someone will take from me what I already have.

However, the thought of “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” is like the confidence expressed in Hebrews 13:5-6: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

No matter what else I might lack, I will never lack the loving care of the Good Shepherd.