What fears are foolish?
October 20-26, 2024 | Always Peachy Devotionals | Fear Week 4
Do you know any fearful people?
I’m sure someone came to mind. It’s a person who is afraid of everything. They fear the weather. They fear sickness and disease. They fear car trouble. They fear conspiracies. They fear certain food products. They fear bug bites. They fear chemicals.
Now, please don’t misunderstand, some of those fears are valid. Every person has a different system, and some people are more sensitive to environmental elements than others. But I’m hoping you understand my point. Some people aren’t just afraid; some people allow fear to control their entire lives.
People like that aren’t a lot of fun to be around, are they? When I was young, my family homeschooled. It’s fairly common place now, but back in the early 90s? Not so much. We were radicals, even in some very conservative communities. And my mom was terrified that Child Protective Services was going to come and take us away. She wasn’t alone either.
In those days, we had to stay inside until after 3:00 p.m. We could only go outside to play after the other kids had gotten home from school, just in case a truancy officer was checking in on families.
No, I’m not kidding.
Now, whether that amount of concern was needed, I don’t know. But I do know many of us allow fear like that to shape our lives and our decisions and our relationships. And we don’t stop to think if those fears are actually worthy of using as a litmus test for our choices. We just feel afraid; so that’s how we act.
This is a difficult topic in many ways because I never want to tell someone that their fears are unfounded. But at the same time, if you are using fear as the foundation of your decisions, you aren’t listening to God. God doesn’t operate through fear. He doesn’t communicate through fear. At least, not that kind of fear.
He asks us to respect Him. He asks us to acknowledge His power and authority. But cowering in your home because someone might ask you a question you don’t have an answer to? That’s not God’s way. And that’s not how He wants any of us to live.
So this week, we’re going to identify some normal fears that all of us experience, but we’re going to boil them down to what they actually are: Lies. Most fears that take hold of us and shut down our ability to think are lies.
I’m not talking about the immediate emotion of fear. Remember, fear as an emotion is neutral. It’s what you do with your fear that makes the difference. You can acknowledge your fear without letting it control you, but it’s not easy. It takes practice and a boatload of faith.
But we’re going to start, this week, by identifying the fears that are foolish to allow to direct your choices.
Monday - Fearing what the world says (Ezekiel 2:6)
Tuesday - Fearing what other people say (Galatians 1:10)
Wednesday - Fearing what your church says (Ezekiel 22:27-28)
Thursday - Fearing your enemies (Philippians 1:28)
Friday - Fearing to lose your stuff (Matthew 19:21)
Again, it’s not wrong to be aware of all of these things. We need to be engaged in all areas of life. Our friends, our family, our communities. We need to be aware of what people are saying, what is happening around us, what is becoming popular in our culture (usually so we can avoid it!).
But the moment we let that information make us afraid of doing what’s right, then we have a problem. It’s a challenge, though, because all we can see right now is the world. People feel threatening because they are present and physical and immediately in front of us. But that’s where our eternal perspective needs to kick in.
And that’s why I picked Psalm 56:11 as our memory verse this week.
Allowing our lives to be determined by pop culture or our role models or celebrities is foolish. Choosing to follow the crowd, choosing to follow a politician, will usually always end in disappointment. Why?
Because they’re people. Just like us. Maybe prettier. Maybe smarter. Maybe better dressed (probably better dressed). But people all the same, and no person in the world has the solution for your problems. Only Jesus can do that.
And, sure, people can hurt us. Nobody is saying they can’t. But in the grand scheme of eternity, what are a few cutting remarks on social media compared to forever with Jesus?
Don’t fear people. They’re just dust. Fear God.
Praying for you all this week.
Amy
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