A Storm Called Fear

INTRODUCTION

Today is the first Sunday of 2025. Happy New Year!

I thought that at the start of the year I would review a couple of the most basic aspects of Christian life. I have given the title of today’s talk, ‘A storm called fear.’ It’s about fear, worry and anxiety. Next Sunday, we’re going to look at ‘Abiding in Jesus.’

You might say, ‘Simon, we’ve heard lots of talks on these things!’ Maybe you have. But piano teachers keep on asking their students, ‘Have you practised?’ Dentists keep on asking their patients, ‘Are you flossing?’ I think it’s OK for me to come back to really important themes – and these themes ARE really important!

TALK

Fear, worry and anxiety are issues which Christians have to deal with all the time. Fear is more the result of a definite danger. Anxiety and worry are more about uncertainty. But all three are kinds of distress.

People sometimes say that the command ‘Do not fear’ comes 365 times in the Bible. I don’t think that’s correct. But the command ‘Do not fear’ or similar commands certainly comes 140 or 150 times. In the Bible, God’s people often faced fear. It’s the same today. My guess is that for most of us here, there’s something which is causing fear, anxiety or worry. We need to know how to deal with them.

I’m going to start with a verse from Psalm 64. David wrote this:

‘Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

preserve my life from dread of the enemy’ [Psalm 64:1].

We might expect David to write, ‘Preserve my life from the enemy’. But instead, he writes, ‘Preserve my life from DREAD of the enemy.’ The Hebrew word that’s translated ‘dread’ means an overwhelming sense of fear that can paralyze a person. It’s as if David is saying that it isn’t the enemy which he’s worried about. It’s the dread, the debilitating fear, that he’s worried about. He has to get over that fear before he can go out to face the enemy.

That sets the scene for today’s talk. There are many threats arounds us; many things we may be afraid of. But our subject today isn’t how to deal with the threats. Our subject today is how to deal with the fear that comes from the threats.

Different people face different threats. Here’s an account of a visit to South Africa by a Norwegian journalist, Kåre Melhus, in the time of Apartheid.

‘The year is 1988 and I find myself in a private home in Cape Town. I have been invited to a group of Christians who are meeting for a foot-washing ceremony where the main purpose is to minister to each other. The group is made up of people from various congregations in the Cape Town area to take care of the families of people imprisoned for anti-apartheid activities. The South African police are frequently arresting male breadwinning members of black families, and the courts are following up with harsh sentences. Part of the punishment is that no one is allowed to help the families left behind as the prison gates slam shut behind husbands and fathers. Such assistance is in itself a crime. So, I am meeting with criminals and enemies of the state, as far as the South African authorities are concerned. The atmosphere is filled with a mixture of exhaustion, fear, bravery, concern, love and trust in God. The handful of group members report to the others on their activities of the past week. The group focuses especially on the needs of a woman with four children, whose husband has been in jail for several months without a trial. He is accused of firebombing a filling station. The group does not think he did this ... [skipping a bit] … The group goes into earnest prayer for each other and for the families of the prisoners. Hands are laid on heads and shoulders, shaking in silent crying. They pray for a long time’ [Note 1].

The people Kåre Melhus met in Cape Town faced real threats. They had reason to be afraid. But SHOULD they have been afraid? The Bible says no.

Why not? I’m going to answer this in three parts. Why we SHOULD NOT be afraid, why we NEED NOT be afraid and why we MUST NOT be afraid. Then we’ll look at one thing we MUST do. At the end, I’m going to zoom out and try to see a bigger picture.

A. WHY WE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID

Fear and worry are unhelpful and actually harmful. We should steer as far away from them as possible!

A1. FEAR AND WORRY DON’T HELP

Jesus once asked, ‘Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?’ [Luke 12:25, NIV]. There’s an old saying, ‘Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.’