Fear Not

Fear not! Why is this the most common instruction given to humans when divine beings show up? This has made me curious for years as I have pondered the significance of it. I believe it reveals something very important about God and understanding reality.

“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” Heb. 2:14,15.

I believe that at its root fear is always of death to some degree or in some form. Everything we are really afraid of are things we were not created to experience to begin with. We are afraid of pain, of shame, of separation from love and nurture, of evil beings and evil events. Because of the pervasive lies about God that have filled our minds and hearts we have been tricked into believing that God is the source of some or all of these things that we are afraid of.

So what is it that people are really afraid of when an angel from God shows up? They are afraid of death, of shameful exposure of themselves in the light of reality, of pain from not being in full harmony with God. Actually they are afraid because they believe lies about God. And while it is true that they could experience any or all of these things because of God's presence it is not because God is the source of the problem. God is never the author of death. God never desires pain or shame for the objects of His love and care.

The problem always lies on our side and in the lies still resident in our hearts. What we believe becomes our reality and reacts upon ourselves as if it were really true even though it is still a lie in the realm of reality. This puts us out of harmony with reality, out of synchronization with what really is. For God's presence to be with us and not precipitate negative consequences because of our negative beliefs about Him, He has to first address the offending lies that threaten to create destructive reactions in us. The very fact that we are afraid in God's presence indicates the presence of residual lies as yet undealt with.

Trying to deny that we are afraid or force ourselves to not be afraid is useless. This only applies another layer of deception on top of the lies already in place. Or trying to rationalize and twist the real truth about God to a point where He will no longer present a threat to us without dealing with our own lies and unbelief is equally pointless. The only real solution is to synchronize our hearts and beliefs with what is really true and then we can experience being fully alive.

Satan is the author and instigator of fear. Fear is his primary weapon. He designs that everyone live in fear and torment, and the results are easily seen all around us and in us. He also wants us to believe his lie that this is God's plan and originates from God's character. We have all bought into this lie to some extent, to the extent that we are afraid or suspicious of God.

Satan also purports to be a source of life, both positively and negatively. That's why he named his tree in the Garden of Eden the Tree of Good and Evil instead of its real name the Tree of Death. He purports to be able to satisfy our needs for satisfaction with selfish pleasure. And he threatens evil, pain and death on us if we do not make him and his agents the focus of our fear and attention.

Fear always makes a god out of the object of its focus. Fear empowers the one we are afraid of, giving them control of our emotions and lives. Satan's greatest desire is to replace God, and he uses fear and seduction and deception to manipulate intelligent beings to give him their focus. When we are afraid we are really believing that the focus of our fear is more powerful than God is. And that belief becomes self-fulfilling in our lives. This is the essence of unbelief. It is refusing to believe that God is greater than anything that tries to make us afraid, refusing to trust that God can satisfy us better than any selfish desire that promises to make us happy.

God is the only source of life. He is not the author of death and pain and shame. All of those things are simply natural consequences of sin which itself is simply harboring reservations and lies about God. The more lies we dispose of the more freedom and life we experience and the less fear we have about anything. Salvation is the process of deposing us of all fear and fully synchronizing us with the true Source of life.