“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in the LORD.” 1 John 4:18
I have stated for months now that I will not vote by fear. People are reaching the cusp of stress in their attempts to persuade others to see why they should vote one way or another. Why does their blood pressure go up? Why do they lie awake at night and worry about things that haven’t happened yet? I’ve heard somewhere that about 98 percent of the things we worry about never come to fruition.
But people thrive on stress, fear, and worry. In God’s Eye, these character traits are sinful. It’s because people don’t trust Him, but focus instead on hypothetical terrible situations. We’ve all done it. We hand the car keys to our children and imagine a phone call we don’t want to get. We hear that a hurricane is approaching and fear that it will take away our home and all our possessions. Sometimes bad things happen, but most of the time, they don’t. Living in fear that they might, does nothing but cause more stress and more fear. This can take its toll on us physically, shortening our very lives.
If we are Christians, we shouldn’t even fear death – even being murdered in a terror attack. This earth is not our home. “And fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul…” Matthew 10:58a
So why do some Christians live in fear and trembling, arguing with those who don’t? Why do they put their country ahead of the God of all Creation? God is in control and already knows how it will end. God wins! But if Christians choose to allow the spirit of fear into their hearts, they are pushing God away and are saying that He ultimately will not be victorious.
Sometimes fear is unavoidable.
I’m deathly afraid of wasps because I’m allergic to them. My fear is probably somewhat exaggerated, but I really don’t want to get stung. The difference is, I don’t sit around and worry about hypothetically being stung by a wasp and fear the result when I’m not around them.
Christians are to have a different sort of conscience than other people. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who actually is our conscience. If we don’t heed the tugging upon our hearts of the Holy Spirit, then we fear our choices. If we haven’t prayed and felt that our decision is in God’s perfect will, then we will doubt our choices. God is not the author of confusion. Satan is.
The Christian Church today is falling away from trusting God and is instead allowing its membership to trust in man. We are never to trust in a man over the Lord. The Biblical order is God first, then Family, then Country. Without the first two, there would be no nation, as America was built on Judeo-Christian principles and family units. How can Christians unite in the cause for Christ if some live in fear at the expense of their faith?
In just a couple of weeks, a presidential election will take place. Will you go to the voting booth in fear and doubt your choice, feel that you had no choice but the one you made, or regret your choice? Will you feel pressure that causes you to shut God out? That’s not how it’s supposed to work. If God gives you perfect peace with your choice, you should never worry nor fear what others would think of you, or what the future will bring.
Vote how the Holy Spirit leads you. Listen to His still, small Voice.
D5 Creation