The only people in the world that do not experience fear are psychopaths. At least, that’s what the learned among us, whose vocation is to study the human brain, have concluded. Even they, and by they, I mean the psychopaths and not the learned among us (although a case can be made that, in many instances, they share common traits), will sweat a bit when they’re tied to a gurney and feel the needle sliding into a vein as punishment for the lives they’ve taken and families they destroyed.
It’s not that those who’ve suffered and endured persecution
for Christ’s sake did not experience fear; rather, in the moment, they
concluded that there was something beyond it, something more important, and
that knowledge allowed them to overcome their momentary fear. Even when human
will failed them, Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was there to strengthen
them, comfort them, and carry them through.
Between love and fear, men have gone to far greater lengths
when motivated by love than when motivated by fear. When love is the driving
force in the actions you undertake, you’ll be able to endure much more for
love’s sake than when you do something out of fear of reprisal or fear of
reprimand. That’s what the godless will never understand because although they
may have known human intimacy, although they may have known affection for a
daughter, son, mother, or father if they have not come to the knowledge of
Christ, they have not known true and abiding love.
We could readily go into the eight types of love the ancient
Greeks identified. I can wax poetic about the difference between agape, pragma,
philia, storge, and the less wholesome eros, philautia, ludus, or mania, but
suffice it to say, no one has ever loved like Jesus loved, and you will never
know the true depth of love until your eyes are open to the reality of what
Jesus did on the cross. He loves us with a perfect love, a love that cannot be compared
with any other kind, and that knowledge alone should bring us peace and comfort
no matter what we might have to endure for His name’s sake.
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to
suffer. Those were Christ’s words to the church of Smyrna after telling them
what would befall them. Jesus knew that fear would attempt to worm its way into
their hearts, yet He instructed them to resist it. Though the predisposition to
fear would be present, they were to keep their eyes rooted upon Him and not
allow it to sway them.
Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear of tomorrow, fear of the
unknown, fear of what remaining faithful might lead to, yet we are commanded
not to fear, not to dwell on the negative aspects of the trials that will come
upon us, but rather on the glorious outcome of having gone through the fire and
not having been burned.
We want to see miracles the likes of which Shadrak, Meshach,
and Abednego saw but we do our best to avoid the situations in which those
miracles can be made manifest. Before you can see the fourth man in the
furnace, you must remain steadfast and faithful, be bound up, and throw into
the fire. Had they relented, had they bowed, had they done as commanded by the
king, they would have never had the testimony they did, nor would they have
seen the power of God manifest in that it preserved them to the point that even
their clothing didn’t smell like smoke.
A piece of coal remains a piece of coal until enough pressure
is brought to bear to form it into a diamond. Pressure is the indispensable
ingredient, and if it is not applied, the potential of becoming a diamond will
always be out of reach.
There are limits to what the enemy and his minions can do.
They can hurt the body, even kill the body, but they cannot touch the soul.
Jesus said as much, insisting that we ought not to fear those who can kill the
body because the body has an expiration date on it anyway. It doesn’t matter
how well one takes care of oneself, at some point, this flesh will give out,
return to the earth, and be no more. That’s not the end of the individual; it’s
just the end of their flesh, for the soul goes on, and it is the One who can
likewise kill the soul that we should fear and not the machinations of men who
can only affect the flesh.
Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in
hell.”
When our reality extends only to what we can touch, see,
hear, or smell, we tend to funnel all our energies into the here and now, be
concerned about the flesh more than anything else, and become subservient to
its needs and desires. When our perspective shifts, and we set our minds on the
things above and not on the things of this earth, come what may, we will
embrace it, endure it, and be perfected through it.
One of the greatest disservices, dare I say evils perpetrated
upon the modern-day church is the incessant focus on the flesh, the here and
now, and the doctrines that accompany this mindset. Whether you want to call it
the prosperity doctrine, the name it and claim it teaching, speaking things
into existence, which oddly enough is always about something material, these
things have caused an entire generation to be obsessed with ease, comfort, and
the coddling of the flesh to the point that anyone who dares to mention what
the Bible says about suffering, enduring for the faith, or persecution is
summarily ostracized and shunned.
We don’t want to hear that we may have to suffer persecution.
We don’t want to hear that evil men with evil intent may one day come and, with
the stroke of a pen, leave us homeless, penniless, and with no way of earning
our daily bread. We’ve been fed prosperity until we couldn’t take another bite,
and it’s the only thing we associate with the Christian walk. It’s the only
form of Christianity we will accept, embrace, and validate. Even so, we have
the Word of God we must contend with, and if the Word says something contrary
to what we believe, we either adjust our belief structure or call God a liar.
Hebrews 10:38, “Now the just shall live by faith; but if
anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
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