John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…
I’m sure you have been in situations where you have been faced with something that scared the living daylights out of you. For me one that I remember came many years ago.
I had just started a new job as the youth and family minister at a church in College Station Texas. It was a Sunday, the pastor was out of town, new church building, and this was the first Sunday that all of the students would be back from summer break at Texas A&M. I was asked to give the morning sermon in the ministers absence. Speaking to a group of youth was no problem for me, but to a packed church that seated about 1000 people, and then to have to do it twice! I had a few sweat beads on my forehead and have no doubt that the folks on the back row could make out the image of my heart pounding under my suit as I spoke.
Fear of speaking in front of large groups is the number one fear typically listed of things people fear the most. I can think of other things that I might fear more personally like forgetting to buckle a seat belt in an open cockpit stunt airplane or something like that, but in any event, I can relate, it was a scary moment for me. It ended up being a really good day and I did survive, but still the fear was very real.
There have been times though when I’ve faced fear and didn’t challenge them head on. I gave into that fear. Each time a situation involving the fear came back it became harder and harder to face. It took control over my life. Paralyzed me in some cases.
Looking back over my life I’m learning that facing any fear that I might have in the long run is much easier to face than having to live with the anxiety and paralysis that comes from giving into my fears. Fears can have so much control over us and paralyze us so much that we can miss out on life. I’ve known people with test anxieties that caused them to not graduate from college, fears of open spaces so much so they have never known what it is like to see the Rocky Mountains with their own eyes. I’ve known people that fear commitment in a relationship and have never known the joys of a true unconditional relationship where you are accepted for who you are.
On the other end of that spectrum, facing the fear head on takes the power and control that fear has on us and starts to weaken its hold. Each time we face it the power and control gets less and less until it is no longer an issue.
One of my favorite quotes comes from Ambrose Redmoond.
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one’s fear. The timid presume it is lack of fear that allows the brave to act when the timid do not. But to take action when one is not afraid is easy. To refrain when afraid is also easy. To take action regardless of fear is brave.”
When I look at the Easter story, it is the fear and how I saw the disciples handle fear that causes me to believe and have faith in the resurrection of Jesus.
They were hiding for their lives. Authorities knew they hung with the Jesus crowd. He had been crucified, now the tomb was empty. Authorities would come after them for sure thinking that they stole the body. Timid, afraid, scared for their lives.
When you start reading the first several chapters of Acts however, there is a total change in their attitudes and their lives. They are boldly declaring Jesus is alive, not afraid to put their necks on the line performing acts of miracles, verbally letting the world know where they stood. This drastic change in and of itself causes me to believe something significant happened to this group of individuals. What happened that changed them so dramatically that would give them the courage to put their lives on the line all of a sudden? Something that had such an impact in their lives that they decided declaring this message was more important than the fears they were feeling. In most cases it lead to their deaths, some of which ended up dying at the same way Jesus did through crucifixion! Throughout the rest of their lives, not one buckled under that fear. Not one strayed from their faith. Who would die for a lie? Someone would have buckled. They didn’t. That is why I believe.
http://skitguys.com/videos/item/i-am-alive/