“There is an unexpected relationship between blame and fear. When you blame others for your failure, you become powerless to change the world around you. You begin to live your life filled with fear, paralyzed by uncertainty and embittered by a sense of victimization. Fear may cause you to abdicate responsibility, but the abdication of responsibility will most certainly cause you to live in fear.” Erwin McManus
“By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” (1 John 4:17-18)
Fear is moving through our society faster than a California wildfire. It is consuming everything in its path and doing irreparable damage. Although COVID-19 was and is one of the leading culprits, there are many other issues that have people living in fear, such as politics, inflation, and crime.
As Erwin McManus tells us, one of the biggest problems with fear is that we start looking for someone to blame and it is very easy to develop a sense of victimization. If I’m a victim, it is much easier to point a finger and blame others for my problems rather than taking responsibility for my life. The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that God has not called us to be victims but to be overcomers.
Listen to what Paul told the Christians in Rome, even as many of them were being hunted down, arrested, and put to death for their faith: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
I think there is a misconception that faith is the antidote to fear. While faith is incredibly important in the Christian life, it is love that gets us started on living a fear-free life. When we really connect with our Heavenly Father and begin to understand how much he loves us and cares for, our faith is increased and His perfect love casts out fear.
May you experience God’s rich and healing love during these difficult days and may your faith be strong and rugged!
David and Annie are serving the Lord in the US, Africa, India, and South America. Would you consider joining their team? Just click here to get involved. Thanks so much!
