Fear Motivation

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” (I John 4:18)

President Roosevelt made famous the saying, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” during a time in our history when there was plenty to be afraid of. FDR’s statement was a good motivational rallying cry to get people to rise to the challenges they faced instead of cowering in the corner and doing nothing. That would have led to defeat and disaster. But in reality, there are a lot of things we can (and sometimes even should) be afraid of in this world. You know I am afraid of heights. It is because I am not a fan of the results of “whump…” or “splat…” You should fear standing in the middle of an Interstate Highway with an 18-wheeler bearing down on you. Only fools never fear. The issue is how to use those fears to protect yourself and your family and to accomplish something for the Lord Jesus Christ and his glory.

Most people think that the opposite of fear is courage. But the most courageous people on earth do not eliminate their fears; they use fear to spur them to action. They have the same fears as anyone else; they just react to them differently. Instead of running and hiding, their courage is driven by their fear. But in many people, fear has a paralyzing and devastating effect.

The opposite of fear is love. If I really understood how much God loved me, I would not fear heights as I do. But I have had enough fearful experiences on ladders and roofs and mountain roads with no guard rails that the natural reaction takes over and clouds my spiritual vision. I don’t want to fear heights, but at this point, my humanity won’t allow otherwise. I guess God knows us pretty well. That is why the number one command in the Bible is “Fear not…” or some variation of that. It appears well over 60 times in the word of God.

David was the “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). When he was being hunted by Saul, his fears took over and made him do some pretty odd things. Read I Samuel chapter 21 for an example. His fear made him irrational. He took on Goliath, and ran from Saul. He passed his fear to the priest Ahimelech and others, and his fear caused him to lie about why he was there. His fears caused him to place his trust in the weapons of the world (Goliath’s sword) rather than in the word of God, the “sword of the Spirit”. David’s fear drove him to flee to Achish the king of Gath for refuge. Remember that it was Gath where Goliath was from! Didn’t he think that they would remember that and want their revenge? Fear made David act like a mad man and “scrabble on the gate” of Gath so that they would think he had lost his mind. It kept them from carrying out their vengeance because they felt sorry for this once courageous warrior who had been reduced to a spineless blob of Jell-O because of his fears.

But in all these things, God’s testimony of the life of David is given in I Kings 15:5: “Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” In spite of David’s human frailty in this story, God never criticized him once for it. It was the right thing to do to run from Saul. He could not be expected to casually stroll into the royal palace where Saul lived any more than you would be expected to “fear not” to stand in the middle of I-70. David was not criticized for his fears because of his love for God and God’s word. Psalm 119 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. It is 176 verses describing the love David had for his Lord and the precious words of God. He wrote, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (Psalm 56:3) When the times of fear descend on us, as they surely will, remember how much God loves you as his child. Despite the dangers, “he will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5). Trust in his love, not in your courage. His love trumps your fears.