Good
Morning All!!
Psalm
56:3; “Even when I am afraid, I still trust you.”
As
some of you are aware, I am a fan of movies.
One of the most important elements in a movie is a sense of tension in
the flow of the movie. It is necessary in
all movies. Some movies are easy to see. If you are watching a war movie, the tension
is seen in success of the battle through the tension of who lives and who dies
in the movie. Even in romantic movies
the tension exists in who ends up married to whom or who dies before true love
can live. Tension keeps our attention as
we watch the movie; it keeps us involved.
This is true of movies, TV shows and books. The ironic thing is that sometimes when the
tension is resolved, the movie or TV show or book loses its excitement. In the mid- 1980’s there was a TV show called
“Moonlighting.” It starred Cybil
Sheppard and Bruce Willis. The first
couple of seasons involved the romantic tension between the two stars; in the
third season they kissed and all the tension was gone and the show soon faded.
In life we experience a type of tension as well. In the human life there is a tension between
fear and trust. We need a certain amount
of fear to stay healthy. Fear is the anticipation
of something bad happening to us. It is
fear that keeps you from running out into a busy street or from jumping out of
a tall tree. So on many levels, fear is
useful even beneficial to our existence.
Fear keeps us from taking risks.
It is not a question of “if” we fear but “when” we fear. Fear even serves a healthy purpose in that it
stimulates the production of adrenalin which heightens our awareness and often
our reaction time.
The problem is when the balance is lost.
The problem is when fear victimizes us and then paralyzes us from
action. We have all seen, and maybe
experienced, fear can cause a person to freeze, unable to react or
respond. Fear can destroy, if it is
allowed to control us; it will destroy you.
Yet fear can serve a Christian in a very helpful way. Fear freezes us; it causes us to say, “I can’t
do this.” As a Christian, we should then
respond, “but God can.” Fear should lead
us to see our frailty and our inability to defeat our fears rather we should
see that God conquers those things which cause us to fear. We do not have to fear death or the devil or
the lies that he tells us. We know that
in all things; God triumphs. So while we
may experience fear; fear should also lead us to lean on God and not on our own
skill or abilities. We cannot conquer
our fears but Jesus has conquered all that needs to be conquered and he has
promised to be with us through all that we face. Trust in God will defeat all our fears.
Father,
lead me to trust in your loving kindness to always keep safe. Help me to control my fear. Help me to use my fear to know your strength
and your faithfulness. Protect me by
your hand. Be with those who are frozen
in fear. Lead them to know your
peace. In the precious name of Jesus we
pray, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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