Skip to main content

I WIll Not Fear


           From my distress I called upon the Lord; The Lord answered me and set me in a large place. The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me? (Psalm 118:5-6)

          When my next-door neighbor and I were in kindergarten, we both got given the standard “stranger danger” talk. My neighbor’s teacher found me and told me that I needed to walk her home because she was afraid of all the strangers she saw. I’d planned to anyway, but I didn’t understand her fears. It was years before I realized that she’d taken the word “stranger” very literally. Every person she saw that she didn’t know was a stranger to her, and therefore likely to kidnap her. She got over it fairly quickly.
         Then, in the 80s, someone abducted Adam Walsh, and the nation’s focus once again turned to how dangerous people can be, especially people who aren’t like us. Colleges now feel obligated to provide safe places for their students. These places aren’t a site to find protection from someone wielding a gun or knife, but from someone who says things that make the student uncomfortable.
            In a similar vein, some folks have adopted the attitude that their social media page/wall is theirs, and no one is welcome to challenge their perspectives. It’s their safe place. I understand their thinking, but I have to shake my head at the idea. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
         I’d like to think that verses like today’s are the reason for my lack of comprehension. But it’s not that I don’t fear what men can do to me. It’s not that I don’t take at least some precautions. I just don’t get anxious about what another person can do unless I think there’s a real likelihood that he’ll do it.
         The sad thing is that while I don’t have “stranger danger” fear like my friend from kindergarten, I have a rejection fear that runs just as high. That is the fear I must lay before the Father. That, and what something that is not a man can do are why I need this passage.
         Whatever your fears, these are your verses.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more