Fear, Torment And Countenance

FEAR AND TORMENT AND COUNTENANCE

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

Text: 1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

There is a healthy fear and a very unhealthy fear. I had a terrible fear of water. I refused to go near the water to go swimming. First, my mom taught me don’t go near the water until you know how to swim? How can I learn to swim and not get in the water? Every time I got near the water others would splash and throw water on me. This increased my fear. Several times someone would throw me into the water. No one seemed to understand my fear of the water. They just made it worse?

One day at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, I saw a young mom take the diaper off a little boy and put swimming trunks on him. He jumped in the water and swam to the platform in the deep water. I felt so ashamed of my fear, so I prayed and confessed my sins and decided I was going to swim. I backed up about twenty feet, prayed again and ran with all my might and did my best dive into the pool. The water was only a few inches deep. I hit the concrete bottom so hard I peeled the skin off my face and chest. The life guards blew their whistles and made everyone get out of the pool while they doctored my bloody wounds. I had that old red medicine all over me. I was so ashamed. My fear grew worse. I learned you can’t learn to swim in ankle deep water. Water could never be fun for me?

I had an aunt that was understanding. She would not allow by brother and cousins to splash me. She slowly worked with me. The next thing I knew I was in ankle deep, then knee deep. My aunt worked with my fears and gradually my fears were abated. It took a whole summer, but I started swimming.

Now, my older brother, Charles, was just the opposite. He had no fear of water. We were at a lake in east Tennessee swimming. There was a rope to clearly define the swimming area. He decided he would swim across the whole lake, over a mile swim. Charles made it about half the way and was in great distress, he could not swim back, and he could not make it across. We all stood in alarm. Some prayed. A speed boat came out of nowhere and rescued my brother and brought him back to safety. He laid lifeless for a long time. We all knew his NO FEAR almost cost him his life. I think he learned a valuable lesson that day.

FEAR? THERE IS A GOOD FEAR: THE FEAR OF THE HOLY GOD. PERHAPS WE HAVE SO TAUGHT GOD IS LOVE THAT WE HAVE BENT THE STANDARD TOO FAR? THERE IS LITTLE RESPECT AND REVERENCE AND AWL OF THE MIGHTY GOD.

Today we twist God’s words and redefine truth to fit our situations. We have lost our fear of God and respect for his house. When I was in college a teacher knew I was a Christian. He spoke to me personally and said: IS GOD LOVE? Yes! Does God really love you? Well, yes. After several questions he asked: IF GOD IS SO LOVING HE WOULD NEVER SEND YOU OR ANYONE ELSE TO HELL! I told him: YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, GOD SENDS NO ONE TO HELL. WE HAVE FREEWILL, WE MAKE CHOICES. GOD HAS NEVER SENT A MAN, WOMAN, BOY OR GIRL TO HELL. IF WE GO TO HELL IT WAS OUR CHOICE TO REJECT JESUS AS OUR PERSONAL SAVIOR. HEAVEN OR HELL IS TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON ACCEPTING OR REJECTING JESUS.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

*1. FEAR (GOOD) FEAR: REVERENTIAL AWE OF God, respect and wonder,

*2. FEAR: (bad) anxiety, panic, an unpleasant emotion caused by an awareness of danger, to be afraid, to expect bad, to worry, frighten, alarm, worry, fret,

MANY OF THE SOCIAL AND PERSONAL ISSUES WE FACE TEND TO GROW OUT OF TERRIBLE FEAR. TODAY WE WANT TO DISCUSS HOW THE BAD, UNHEALTHY FEAR WILL ALWAYS CHANGE A PERSON’S COUNTENCE AND CAUSE GREAT HARM TO THE PERSON’S EGO, ID AND PERSONALITY.

What is at the root of PANIC and ANXIETY ATTACKS? There are no simple answers but part of the root maybe found in a LACK OF TRUST, fear and or sin. Can we see often FEAR could be rooted in the lack of trust.