Fear

Last month I decided to put away my “heavy” reading for the month. Instead, I read the first five “Harry Potter” books. Harry is an adolescent boy who has discovered he’s actually a wizard. The books are about his growing up, learning to be a wizard and struggling and fighting against his nemesis and the enemy of the entire wizarding community. Once thought dead, Lord Voldemort is back. His name strikes terror into the heart of nearly all. So great is their fear that they refer to him most frequently as You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Occasionally, he is referred to as the Dark Lord. Lord Voldemort desires absolute control over all. His primary tactics are intimidation and fear. Even without the use of magic, through fear, Lord Voldemort is able to wield control. The premise is simple; that which we fear controls us.

I think I’m safe to say that everybody fears something or someone. Many seek ways to control their fears. Some pretend they have no fears. Perhaps it is because they fear having any fear. Most of us, I would say, seek to remove as much fear from our lives as possible. The problem is that what is “possible” for us regarding the elimination of all fear, is very little.

The issue with which we must reckon is not how to rid ourselves of fear but to discover what it is we ought to fear. Someone has said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” Poppycock! There is something for us to truly fear. To think that we can and should avoid, refuse and eliminate all fear is foolishness. That is every bit as dangerous as letting the wrong fears (or too many fears) control us.

Many fear insecurity. Many fear loss of possessions. Maybe there is something behind all our fears that needs to be discovered and examined. Maybe most of our fears are rooted in one fear. I would submit that what we fear is our destruction. We perceive that through many other fears we harbor, but the root the fear that we will be destroyed.

Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Jesus says, in essence, that there is improper fear and proper fear. For the most part, we tend to fear the wrong things because we don’t understand or are simply ignorant of what we should fear.

The issue is not to eliminate all our fears but to discover what we ought to fear. Proper fear does not center so much on “what” as on “who.” The One to fear is not our fellow human beings. The One to fear isn’t the Dark Lord. The One to fear is He who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. And when we discover who this One is, we discover that, thought he holds all power, including the power of eternal destruction and damnation, we might also discover that he is also omni-compassionate. He pours out his mercy fresh and new upon us very morning. He lavishes his grace upon us. His love endures forever. We must learn that he is holy, just and righteous. He always does the right thing even when we do the wrong thing. His love never abrogates his righteousness. But his love moved him to be wholly righteous and wholly merciful at the same time.

He is the One who met Moses at the burning bush and told Moses his name, “I AM.” And he came in the season Christians all over the world just celebrated last month. He is Emmanuel. He is Jesus Christ. He comes to us in the storms of life that we so much fear, walking on top of them. And if we see him, above the storm, we may become terribly fearful. But he then speaks to us and says, “Fear not. I AM.”