Life’s Too Short To Fear The Future, prt. 2
Part 8 in series, “Life’s Too Short To…”
Wildwind Community Church
David Flowers
May 22, 2005
Nenien C. McPherson, Jr., says that the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises are the only fears that are natural to us. There are only two, he says, and all the rest are learned. McPherson then quotes well-known psychiatrist Dr. William Sadler who said that "the only known cure (for fear) is faith."
What fears have you learned? How much fear has been added to your fear-repertoire since you were a child? Do you think it could be true that the only cure for fear is faith?
If that’s true then why do you think it is that so many people of faith are so fearful? If you were here last week you know the answer to that question. The reason so many people of faith are so fearful is because many who call themselves people of faith are not really moving faith to the center of their lives but are instead adopting faith to use it for their own purposes. Remember last week we said that the way our faith helps us with fear is not by reassuring us that things are okay, and not even by reminding us of God’s love for us. The way faith helps with fear is that through faith we learn to live in a different world spiritually from the world we live in physically. Through faith we begin to slowly grasp a world Jesus taught about called The Kingdom of God. And as we learn to live in that kingdom, our fears slowly subside because there is no fear in that kingdom.
Matthew 7:24-27 (MSG)
24 "These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock.
25 Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
26 "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.
27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
Jesus used this metaphor of a house built on rock or sand, and it is one of the most popular things he said. But let’s look at it for a minute. The life built on Jesus’ teachings will be “fixed to the rock.” In other words it will begin with the words of Jesus, and then everything in that life will be built on that foundation. No matter how tall the structure gets, it must always be built on that foundation. We can’t live our lives for ourselves fundamentally, then simply add a new floor to our house and have that be the “religious” floor.
What made the strong house strong? What kept the strong house from falling? The foundation it was built on. It wasn’t the furniture in the house, or the number of Bibles in it, or the paint on the walls, or the food in the refrigerator, or the amount of money it cost to build it. What kept that house standing was its foundation – in other words, it’s starting point.
We can’t fail to see Jesus’ overarching point here. Ultimately what matters most is your starting point – what your foundation is. Many people want to have themselves as their foundation – their own subjective opinions about what’s right and wrong, usually using no standard other than their feelings. If we base our lives on our own opinions, our own feelings, we are building on sand.
Matthew 5:18 (MSG)
18 God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working.
The reason we must build on the foundation of what Jesus teaches us is not because they are ethereal, tripped-out spiritual principles for us to use to convince ourselves that we’re other-wordly but because God’s Word, Jesus’ teachings, God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground under our feet. How could a life built on this foundation not be unshakeable?
Psalms 1:1-4 (NIV)
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
Strength. Stability. Security. These are what we will find as we build our lives on the foundation of God’s Word. But how do we do that?
Matthew 7:13-14 (MSG)
13 "Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do.
14 The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention.
How do we build our life on God? One thing is for certain – not casually. We do not build a life on God simply by praying one prayer asking for God’s forgiveness and leadership in our lives. We do not build a life on God simply by invoking his name in prayer once in a while when things get bad for us. We do not build a life on God by simply attending church regularly and thinking we’re all set.
We build a life on God the way Jesus taught us that we covered last week:
Matthew 6:33 (MSG)
33 Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
Jesus was definitely consistent with himself, wasn’t he? Here he tell us in Matthew 6 to steep our lives in God, and in Matthew 7 we learn from him that the way to God is vigorous and requires our total attention. I don’t mean total attention in the sense that if you’re not thinking about it 24 hours a day you are a bad person or you are failing to steep your life in God. What I’m talking about is our coming to understand that we cannot be casual followers of Christ.
Seekers here this morning, welcome. I’m glad you’re here. I hope you return. Take all the time you want to listen to our sermons, to worship with us, to learn what Wildwind is about, to ask your questions and express your doubts about faith in God. But know this: when the time comes to make a decision, you need to make a decision. We cannot follow Christ casually. It demands that we rebuild our lives on a totally new foundation, one idea, one principle, one relationship, one experience at a time, and learn a new way of thinking about the world.
So the only cure for fear is faith. But the kind of faith that cures fear is not simply faith professed, as in “I have faith.” It is faith performed, as in “I am staking my life – my decisions, my actions, my emotions, my possessions, everything I am and have and think and believe and do and say – on the teachings of Jesus.” That is what it means to “steep our lives” in God-reality. That alone is the kind of faith that truly offers a cure for fear. This morning I want to show you how fear demonstrates a lack of faith in five ways.
First of all, fear is lack of faith that God is watching. When we immerse ourselves in fear, we forget or have stopped believing that God sees us. This is a great problem, you know why? If you were here during our Names of God series, we studied the Biblical name for God, “El Roi.” What does El Roi mean? The God Who Sees. In other words, the God who pays attention, the God who knows what is going on, the God who is not blind to our suffering, our needs, our weakness, our fear.
Matthew 10:29-30 (MSG)
29 "What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do.
30 He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head!
When we are immersed in fear, we have forgotten that God sees, God knows, and God cares.
To Jacob:
Genesis 31:12 (NASB)
12 ...I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
To Noah:
Genesis 7:1 (NASB)
1 ...you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
To Moses:
Exodus 3:9 (NASB)
9 ...I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Exodus 32:9 (NASB)
9 The LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.
To King Asa:
2 Chronicles 16:9 (MSG)
9 God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him...
Psalms 34:15 (MSG)
15 God keeps an eye on his friends, his ears pick up every moan and groan.
Proverbs 5:21 (NASB)
21 For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths.
A constant theme through the Bible is that God is watching – not from a distance, as Bette Midler sang in a popular song a number of years ago, but right up close – seeing every detail. Faith begins with the conviction that God is watching.
Next, fear is lack of faith that God’s will is perfect.
Psalms 139:16 (NIV)
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
God has a will, a desire, a plan for each of our lives. Folks, I can say confidently that my entire ministry, indeed my entire Christian faith, is based on that assurance – I think I have nothing greater to offer this world than the news that each person was made in God’s power, for God’s purpose, with a divine plan for each life.
Mark 3:35 (MSG)
35 Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother."
Jesus here affirms that God has a will for us and that God’s desire for us is that we obey God’s will.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (NASB)
9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
It is God’s will that we understand our need for God, that we open our eyes to the reality of our own sin, that we appeal to God’s mercy and ask for his forgiveness and leadership in our lives.
Finally, I’m going to use this passage from Romans. I want to be careful here because I think this passage is often misinterpreted and that because of that a lot of people are living their lives in confusion.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I will soon do a whole sermon series on this idea of the will of God. What I want you to see in this right now is that God’s will for us is perfect. God wants only what is best for us – nothing less. What I do not want you to take away from this is that every decision in your life – large and small – has already been determined because God has pulled out the Cosmic Cookie Cutter and just chunked out your piece of the action in this world. Who you’ll marry, where you’ll attend college, how many kids you’ll have – all decided for you. I don’t believe that’s true at all and I don’t think that view of God is Biblical. But what IS Biblical and what we don’t want to miss is that God’s desire, God’s plan, God’s will for our lives is perfect. Fear is lack of faith in that fact.
Third, fear is lack of faith that God will give us what we need when we need it. In Exodus God tells Moses, who is terrified of approaching Pharaoh and demanding the release of the Hebrew slaves,
Exodus 4:12 (NIV)
12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."
In Matthew Jesus sends out a group of people to preach in the surrounding towns. Here’s what he tells these fearful people:
Matthew 10:19 (NIV)
19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say."
Notice Jesus says not “if” they arrest you but “when.” And even then he tells them not to worry! And by the way, Jesus never tells them that whatever they are given to say will clear things up and get an apology and maybe a good financial settlement from the government for having falsely arrested them. He gives no such assurance. All he says is that God will tell them what to say.
John 12:49-50 (NIV)
49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.
50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
So far we have been looking at how God will give us words when we need them. But isn’t that true of everything else too?
Matthew 6:34 (MSG)
34 "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
Matthew 6:11 (NKJV)
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
The focus it seems is always on the importance of our believing in advance that God knows what we need and is willing to provide resources, but not before we step into the situation where we’re going to need them. We want it the other way around. We want to say, “Lord, I’ll do what you want me to do if you’ll show me how you plan to make it possible. Sure, Lord, we’ll leave Davison and start Wildwind, but who will come with us? How will we earn money? Where will we meet?” We wanted answers to all those questions up front. God says, “Sorry but it doesn’t work that way. Quit your job first and I’ll give you what you need when you need it – the faithful core team, the money you need to live, the facility that will be right to get you started.” God always works this way. We have to step out in faith first, then God makes available just what we need in order to succeed in that step. Fear is lack of faith that God is going to keep his end of the deal.
My favorite Biblical example of this principle is in the book of Exodus. Let me read this account to you:
Exodus 16:11-21 (MSG)
11 God spoke to Moses,
12 "I’ve listened to the complaints of the Israelites. Now tell them: ’At dusk you will eat meat and at dawn you’ll eat your fill of bread; and you’ll realize that I am God, your God.’ "
13 That evening quail flew in and covered the camp and in the morning there was a layer of dew all over the camp.
14 When the layer of dew had lifted, there on the wilderness ground was a fine flaky something, fine as frost on the ground.
15 The Israelites took one look and said to one another, man-hu (What is it?). They had no idea what it was. So Moses told them, "It’s the bread God has given you to eat.
16 And these are God’s instructions: ’Gather enough for each person, about two quarts per person; gather enough for everyone in your tent.’ "
17 The People of Israel went to work and started gathering, some more, some less,
18 but when they measured out what they had gathered, those who gathered more had no extra and those who gathered less weren’t short—each person had gathered as much as was needed.
19 Moses said to them, "Don’t leave any of it until morning."
20 But they didn’t listen to Moses. A few of the men kept back some of it until morning. It got wormy and smelled bad. And Moses lost his temper with them.
21 They gathered it every morning, each person according to need. Then the sun heated up and it melted.
Do you see where Jesus prayer came from when he prayed, “Give us this day our daily bread?” In this account, God illustrates that principle in the lives of his people. He gave them just what they needed for the day.
One more example for you and that’s how God will make it possible for us to resist temptation at the moment we need to resist.
1 Corinthians 10:13 (MSG)
13 No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.
You will have what you need when you need it, my friends. To truly have faith in God is to believe that so deeply that you stake your life on it – while teaching your teenage son to drive, while talking to your pre-teen about sex, while sitting next to your toddler in the hospital, while waiting for the results of that medical test you just had. God will provide. God will give you what you need when you need it. But he will only give what you NEED, and you won’t get it until you NEED it!
Fourth, fear is lack of faith in God’s perspective on human life.
Luke 12:4-5 (MSG)
4 "I’m speaking to you as dear friends. Don’t be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being.
5 Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.
This passage is incredibly important, because there’s one central message in it that we must understand if we are to steep our lives in God-reality. What Jesus really tells us here is that suffering and death are not the worst things we can encounter. Now that brings us limited comfort, doesn’t it, because the worst we can imagine is suffering and death. But that’s precisely why we need to steep ourselves in God’s reality. As we increasingly do that we will come to see the shallowness of life apart from God, how without God there is little dignity in life at all since ultimately everything we do will fade into dust and be gone. Fear is lack of faith in what Jesus tells us here – that there are worse things that can happen to us than suffering or dying. Isn’t this the perspective we need? Remember last week we talked about trying to talk your two year old out of belief in the boogeyman and how that never works because your two year old lives in a world where that fear makes sense? What did we say is the solution to that? Just let your child grow up. Over time he/she will learn a new perspective – a more mature perspective – and in this perspective there is simply no room for belief in the boogeyman. At that point it won’t be difficult to stop believing in the boogeyman, he or she will just stop believing, almost without realizing it, because they will have outgrown that belief. As an adult, you know that although their fear is real, the danger is not. They think they are in danger, but they aren’t.
I believe what Jesus is telling us here is, “Little ones, I know you think you’re in danger, but you’re not. Trust me, far worse things could happen to you, and those are exactly the things I will never allow to happen.”
I know it’s hard for us to accept that. Our experience is so limited, so chained to this world. Most of us have had a child vaccinated. We allowed them to be exposed to that pain because as adults we understand that there are far worse things that can happen to the human body than getting a shot. Measles are worse. Chicken pox is worse. Polio is worse. We have perspective they do not have. We are called to come to have God’s perspective on human life so that we can believe Him when he says, “You just don’t need to worry about this stuff.”
Fifth and finally, fear is lack of faith that suffering and difficulty have purpose in our lives.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
This passage confirms both the current and the previous points. What Paul says here is first of all that all the troubles of this world are, in the end, actually light – just blips on the radar screen of eternity, so it’s a perspective issue. But second, Paul says that the afflictions we face in this life are accomplishing a purpose, leading us toward something God has staked out for us. He says it more eloquently in chapter 5:
2 Corinthians 5:1-8 (MSG)
1 For instance, we know that when these bodies of ours are taken down like tents and folded away, they will be replaced by resurrection bodies in heaven—God-made, not handmade
2 —and we’ll never have to relocate our "tents" again. Sometimes we can hardly wait to move—and so we cry out in frustration. Compared to what’s coming, living conditions around here seem like a stopover in an unfurnished shack, and we’re tired of it! We’ve been given a glimpse of the real thing, our true home, our resurrection bodies!
3
4
5 The Spirit of God whets our appetite by giving us a taste of what’s ahead. He puts a little of heaven in our hearts so that we’ll never settle for less.
6 That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead.
7 It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going.
8 Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us? When the time comes, we’ll be plenty ready to exchange exile for homecoming.
Hear that? It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
What is that thing we trust in but don’t see?
Faith is being sure and certain that God is watching, that his will is perfect, that he will provide just what we need at the moment we need it, that his perspective on life is more valid and more accurate than our own, and that the troubles of this life have a purpose and are somehow bringing us closer to who God created us to be. Faith is staking our lives on those things so that those realities come to replace the earth-bound and only semi-useful understanding we have now. And as that happens, fear fades farther and farther into the background.
So no quick fixes offered here – just the prospect that all of life can be different as God molds and shapes everything we think about everything. Anyone interested? Any takers?
