“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a
manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only
hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit,
contending as one man for the faith of the gospel (28) without
being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them
that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.”
Do you think of the word “frightened” when you consider
Paul’s life? I sure don’t. I picture him as fearless, standing for
Christ in the face of persecution from Jews and Gentiles alike. I see him as bold and resolute – a force of
nature. While he was incredibly
courageous, he also knew that fear could be debilitating.
For many of us, fear is a companion in one way or
another. We fear that we will fail, we
fear other’s opinions, or we fear ridicule or persecution; not to mention our
fears of flying, terrorists, disease, spiders, the economy, and thousands of
other scary things. Yet “Fear not”, or a similar phrase, is
stated 107 times in the bible (NASB) – so despite all the scary things, God
says, “Don’t fear”.
The obvious question is, how do we “not fear”? First, 1
John 4:18a says, “There is no fear in
love. But perfect love drives out fear...” Who is perfect love? God.
So God drives out fear, or to say it another way, God is greater than
our fear. When He is present, there is
no reason to fear…and He is always present; we forget that sometimes.
Second, in this passage, Paul gives us a prescription to
help counteract fear. Take your focus
off yourself and put it on God, serve others in the fellowship of believers,
and strive to bring about the Kingdom of God above all else.
When you do these things, your experience with God will
give you confidence in Him and drive away your fear. From my experience, sometimes fear will
dissolve like mist, other times, our confidence in God will give us the courage
to overcome our fear. Courage is not an absence of fear, but acting faithfully
despite fear.
When you look at Paul’s life: floggings, shipwrecks, and
attempts on his life – he knew fear. But
more importantly, he knew Jesus. It is
our relationship with Christ and the indwelling of His Spirit that gives us the
ability to overcome fear so we can be effective servants in God’s Kingdom.
Fear is one of the enemy’s greatest weapons. Combat it with an intentional relationship
with Jesus Christ and faithful service with other Christians busy about God’s
work. If you focus on Jesus and are busy
serving Him, you won’t have time to notice the scary things around you…
“Some say if only my fears and doubts will
leave then I will get to work. But instead you should get to work and then your
fears and doubts will leave.”
– Dwight L. Moody
PS – for those who
find the last sentence in that passage a little strange…
“This is a sign to
them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.” We seldom know what to do when the bible talks
about people being destroyed. One of my
commentaries summarizes the passage like this:
“The meaning here is, do
not be alarmed at anything which they can do. Maintain your Christian
integrity, notwithstanding all the opposition which they can make. They will,
in the end, certainly be destroyed, and you will be saved."
Those who oppose the word of God and His people will be
destroyed and those faithful to God will be saved by God Himself. There will be
a reckoning one day. Thank God for your
salvation and pray for those who persecute you (Matt 5:44); it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the
living God (Hebrew 10:31). We shouldn’t wish that on anybody…
