Friday, July 6, 2007
More Elisabeth Eliot on Fear
I know people whose lives are totally controlled by fear. There is no bondage more powerful and crippling. Fear takes over the mind, coercing and circumscribing all its activity. We know where that spirit of fear originates, and we know the name of the enemy who would hold us enslaved. In the name of our God we must tread down our enemies, including all the nagging "what ifs" of our lives. To those frightening possibilities Christ answers, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Let the very worst thing come to pass--even there, especially there, his hand will hold us. If we go into darkness, He is there, has been there before us, has conquered all its powers. That's why He became a man. That's why He died. That's why He rose again.
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This one would have been a perfect theme for today. Hannah and I spent the whole day getting a Uhaul, packing her stuff in Dallas, and then unpacking here in College Station. She has never done a major move without her dad before (she can never again deny being a daddy's girl), and she was pretty nervous about the move since Josiah and I were the only two guys doing the lifting.
Of course, when our bulging muscles made quick work of the furniture, she was all a glow (this is only slight exaggeration, I promise!). I am reminded of how strange and irrational our fears can be. I am not afraid of moving furniture, but I was deathly afraid of Hannah being disappointed with me because I put a paint scuff on the front bumper of her car when I skimmed a pole parking in her apartment parking space.
If we spent more time fearing God (and thereby rightly respecting His utter Sovereignty and loving His superabundant and gracious Providence) we would certainly fulfill 1 John 4:18, don't you think?
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