FEAR
“Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell that dog the footsteps of the poor, the dispossessed, the disinherited. There is nothing new or recent about fear – it is doubtless as old as the life of man on the planet. Fears are of many kinds – fear of objects, fear of people, fear of the future, fear of nature, fear of the unknown, fear of old age, fear of disease, and fear of life itself. Then there is fear which has to do with aspects of experience and detailed states of mind. Our homes, institutions, prisons, churches, are crowded with people who are hounded by day and harrowed by night because of some fear that lurks ready to spring into action as soon as one is alone, or as soon as the lights go out, or as soon as one’s social defenses are temporarily removed.”
– Howard Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited, p. 26
The Lion King
Has anyone seen the new Lion King movie?
Disney has started remaking some of the classic movies into more of a live-action version. Our family didn’t get to see this movie when it came out last year, but we watched it recently on Disney+.
If you haven’t seen it, it’s pretty much like the original.
The lion king is a lion by the name of Mufasa. He has a son named Simba who he starts preparing from a young age to be the next king. But everyone believes that will be many years from now.
Mufasa’s brother has different plans though. His name is Scar and he wants to be king. So he plans to kill Mufasa and Simba so he can be king. His plan only halfway works out. Mufasa dies but Simba escapes! Simba, however, thinks it’s his fault that his dad has died and with Scar’s encouragement, he runs away!
With Scar as the lion king, the pride land becomes a dark place. Food is scarce. Animals are forced to move on to other lands. Things are not going well. But Scar doesn’t care, he’s king. He’s got the power, the position, the title.
Meanwhile, Simba is in a far away place. He’s made new friends. He’s got a new moto — “Hakuna Matata.” Which means… That’s right, “No Worries!” Now he’s all grown up and as far as he’s concerned, life is good. Until… until Nala shows up.
Nala was his childhood friend, so to speak. She had left the pride lands looking for food. But instead, she found Simba! And she tells Simba that he has to come home, take his place as Lion King, and remove Scar from power.
But Simba doesn’t want to do that. Why?
Fear.
Simba is afraid. He’s afraid of his past. He’s afraid of his failures. He’s afraid to face the truth. He’s afraid to face Scar. He’s afraid to face his family. He’s afraid he’s not enough.
Afraid?
“Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell…” – Howard Thurman
What are you afraid of? What happens to us when we experience fear?
What happens when there’s a shooting? What happens when there’s a tornado? What happens with there’s an outbreak of a disease and we don’t know how to cure it? What happens when there’s a travel ban? What happens when the economy begins to falter? What happens when the plan we had for our family or our marriage or our kids or our grandkids aren’t working out the way we wanted?
There’s a lot to be afraid of!
What happens when we become afraid?
In my experience, whenever we become afraid we often look in the wrong direction for comfort and protection. We default to self-reliance and self-preservation. We forget what we believe about God and we try to protect ourselves at all costs.
The good news is that God never intended us to live lives filled with fear. His desire was never for us to be consumed by or dominated by fear.
And God knows that fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell and he has an answer for fear, for whatever it is we’re afraid of, and if we will lean in and listen we might find an alternative source for our comfort and protection.
Remember who you are.
What if Rafiki were to take you down to the water? What would you see? Would you see the reflection of your Heavenly Father? Would you hear His voice?
When Rafiki led Simba to the water and he looked into the water, he saw his father’s face and then he heard his voice.
His father said, “Remember who you are. You are my son.”
What happens next is that Simba is filled with confidence and courage beyond anything he had ever known before because he remembered who his father was and who he was. He was the son of the king.
What happens when you remember who you are?
When you remember that you are a son, a daughter, of God? When you remember who your Father is. He’s not the lion king, He’s the King of kings. He is the Lion of Judah. And you should hear him roar! In His presence all your enemies will flee, all your fears will disappear, and you can experience confidence and courage greater than anything you’ve ever experienced before because His Spirit is living inside of you.
The Apostle John once said, “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear.”
– 1 John 4.16, 18
Like Moses, you can stand before Pharaoh with courage and confidence and you can watch God bring deliverance.
Like David, you can stand before Goliath with courage and confidence and you can watch the giant fall.
Like Daniel, you can stand in a pit of lions overnight with courage and confidence and you can rise up out of that grave at dawn.
Like Peter, you can walk on water in the middle of the storm with courage and confidence because even if you fall Jesus is there to catch you.
Like Paul, you can endure anything that comes your way from shipwrecks and stonings to persecution and prison with courage and confidence because we are more than conquers through Him who loved us.
Like John, you can know how much God loves you and you can put your trust in His love!
Perfect Love
Remember how much God loves you and put your trust in His love.
I can’t tell you how many times when I was a kid that I would have been terrified, absolutely consumed with fear… from being a child walking into a busy store, to the first time I got behind the wheel of a car, to that day that I got myself in a lot of trouble… there’s a hundred stories and hundred reasons why I should have been scared out of my mind but in every instance, even if I was afraid I was ok for 1 reason… I knew my dad loved me and he was near.
Now I know not everyone has had that kind of earthly father. But I’m here to tell you that your Heavenly Father is the Perfect Father. And your Perfect Father loves you with a perfect love! You can put your trust in His perfect love. And His perfect love will drive out fear as you hope in Him!
We often default to self-reliance and self-preservation. But God has said, “Do Not be afraid.”
We are loved by God. We can put our trust in His love.
Perfect love casts out fear.
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