Dear Friend,
These are difficult days, aren’t they?
Anyone who says they have no fear in this pandemic, well, I don’t want to take any advice from them.
I realize God has not given us a spirit of fear but also I know that fear is a part of how God protect us from time to time from things that can harm us.
Let me show you in scripture…
Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
For the longest time people have said something like this, “I don’t want to give my life to Jesus just because I am afraid of going to hell.”
Oh?
So, it would be like you saying now in the pandemic, “I don’t want to wash my hands or social distance from others just because I am afraid of dying.”
Really?
I would encourage you to rethink your theology of fear.
When God asks us to do something, we shouldn’t let fear keep us from doing what He is asking us to do. But on the other hand, sometimes God uses fear to get us to do things we should be doing or to stop doing things we shouldn’t be doing.
See, fear is not always bad, sometimes it is good. Sometimes God uses fear to save our lives and even our souls for that matter.
During the time of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, God encouraged Joseph not to give into his fear in this passage…
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ[a] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[b] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him…
See, God encouraged Joseph not to be afraid but to obey and do what He had called Mary and now Joseph to do. So, Joseph refused to give into his fear and did what God asked him to do.
But another time, Joseph was getting ready to do something and look at what God does this time…
Matthew 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt
So, in one situation he encourages Joseph to run toward his fears and in another situation he encourages him to run away. So, when do you know which is which? Glad you asked!
SOURCE: Christian Post, Kelly Williams
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