The Death Grip of Fear



California hker holding on to the face of a cliff.

You may have seen in the news over the last couple of weeks the remarkable rescue of a young lady who was holding on to the side of a cliff for dear life - not figuratively, but literally. She and her companion had gone hiking in a mountainous state park in California and decided to hike down a cliff. However, when they had gotten several yards down, they realized the cliff was not made for hiking! They were looking at a 500 foot drop straight down and decided the only way out of this very dangerous situation was to go back up the way they came.

Her companion went first and got back to the top of the cliff, but the 24 year old woman was frozen solid to the wall of the cliff - in fear! She had only a make-shift tether tied to her friend, so she was literally holding on to the cliff for her life. Two hours later when a helicopter let a rescue paramedic down to her and he had wrapped a safety harness around her waste, she would not or could not let go of the cliff. The paramedic said he had to pry her hands away from the crag she was holding on to with what he called a "death grip." Oh WOW! It all ended good as she and her friend were rescued and suffered only minor injuries.

That young lady was so full of fear that she was actually crippled to the point of not being able to help herself when the rescuer came. She was so afraid that she was not able to let go, even knowing the rescuer had hold of her.

As I was watching the video of that rescue on TV and then thinking about it later, I realized that it is a perfect illustration of how believers and receivers of Jesus Christ sometimes let fear cripple their faith!

Fear can cripple faith in so many ways - from being afraid to share Jesus with someone, to being afraid that He might not answer prayers or heal a seriously ill loved one or heal a marriage that looks like it cannot be saved or heal the hurt from abuse, and the list can go on and on. Fear is dangerous!

Fear is crippling because it changes one's focus. Coaches and motivational speakers are notorious for statements like, "Keep your eye on the prize..." And that's not a bad motivational tool. If we don't see the goal we are reaching for and keep it in our crosshairs, then we are more likely than not going to miss the goal or at least take longer to achieve it. The same is true in our spiritual walk. To allow the Lord to fulfill his purposes for us, we must stay focused on Him. It's when we take our eyes off of Jesus, that fear can cripple us. I'm so thankful for Peter because he gave us so many examples of what our humanness apart from God can do. Remember when he wanted to walk on water like Jesus?

• Matt. 14:22-33 is an account of that story. After feeding the 5,000, Jesus had the disciples go on ahead of Him to the other side of the sea. While He went up on the mountain to have some alone time with the Father, the guys were in the middle of the sea when a great wind stirred the waves. The account in Mark 6 says Jesus saw them straining at the oars. They were in physical danger of being swamped by the waves. Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. They thought Him a ghost and cried out in fear. But when He spoke to them, they realized Who it was.
• Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately, Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him... (vv.28-31)
• As long as Peter's eyes were fixed on Jesus, he was fine - in fact, more than fine - he was walking on the water toward Jesus! But when he let himself get distracted by the wind - his gaze drifted away from Jesus - he began to sink. Fear took over and crippled his faith! And Jesus was within arms' reach! Just like the paramedic trying to resuce the hiker. He was right there with a harness around her waist, but she couldn't let go of the cliff. She - and Peter - were paralyzed by their fear.

Fear is also crippling because it feeds our doubt. Since our faith rests in a God whom we cannot physically see or touch, doubt is a powerful weapon Satan uses to diminish our faith. A believer who doubts God's truths and faithfulness is not likely to speak out for Him or to stand strong when troubles come. Many times when fear is feeding a believer's doubt, she will take matters into her own hands. The outcome is usually not a good one!

• Genesis 15-21 gives the account of Abraham and Sarah and the birth of their son, Isaac. God had chosen Abraham to be the "father of many nations." He had promised him a son through whom He would fulfill that promise. After many years, Sarah had born no children - she was barren. They began to doubt God's promise, and just as many believers do, they took matters into their own hands. Sarah suggested that Abraham bare a child by her maid servant, Hagar. Since God had not given Sarah a child, this must be the way He intended it to happen. Back in that day, children born to the maid servants were considered children of the master. So the son born to Hagar by Abraham could be the son God had promised. That son was named Ishmael. He was not the son God purposed to fulfill His promise through. Much dysfunction and discord was instigated because of Abraham and Sarah's doubt.
• God reminded Abraham about His promise and specifically told him that the mother would be Sarah and they would name the child Isaac. He even sent an angel to reveal the same to Sarah. - And she laughed. Her doubt continued because of her age. She forgot that the One dealing with them was the One who spoke the earth into existence! Even Abraham doubted and reminded God that he was a hundred years old and Sarah was ninety. However, a year from that day, Sarah gave birth to a son whom they named Isaac.
• When God didn't work on their time-table, Abraham and Sarah began to doubt what they knew about God and what they had heard from God. That fear led them to take matters into their own hands and "help" God out. They were afraid God had left them, or they were afraid that they heard the wrong thing, or they were afraid that time was running out on them and God.
• Their doubt led to the birth of two sons who were in conflict with each other from the beginning and the creation of two nations of people who continue to be in conflict with each other to this day. However, even in the midst of their doubt and disobedience, God was faithful, He never left them, and He fufilled His promise to Abraham. But the whole world lives with the consequences of their doubt.

Fear is one of the most powerful emotions that a person will ever encounter. And just like what happened with that hiker, fear can overtake every other emotion and rational thought. When we allow fear to change our focus and give rise to doubt, it becomes crippling. Spiritually, fear will cripple our faith. So, for that NOT to happen, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus and let Him work in our lives in His time, trusting that He will do what He says He will do.

And we must remember that whenever we find ourselves hanging on to a cliff with a death grip, He is right there with us, urging us to reach out to Him for our rescue. He is our safety harness, and He will never let go.

Do not fear for I am with you; Do not look anxiously about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Is. 41:10

Sibling Rivalry...

If you have a brother(s) or sister(s), you have probably experienced sibling rivalry to some degree. I have an older sister and an older brother, but we are all spread out with four to six years between us. So we were not so close in age as to be competitive with each other. Psychologists tells us that birth order makes a huge difference in how one learns to relate and cope with others throughout their lives. I am the "baby" of the family and also experienced a bout with a devastating disease when I was two years old. So I know that I was treated differently than my brother and sister. Did these things impact my relationship with my siblings? Yes, no doubt they did. It is often said that the baby of the family is spoiled and not held to such an exacting standard as the older children, especially the eldest. I have to say from my personal experience as the baby and as the mom of two children, that is pretty much how it goes. Then in my case, add a debilitating disease, and for the older kids, you get disaster! No doubt, there were times in our younger days, when my sister and brother got fed up with the extra time and attention my parents gave me. They were often shuffled off to stay with relatives while my folks stayed with me six hours away from our home. I am sure there were activities they had to forgo because of my situation, and times when they were sick of hearing something like, "Don't be rough with Debbie." I know myself well enough to know that had the roles been reversed, I would have tired quickly of the world seeming to revolve around one them. We are all human.

When we pick up the story of Jacob's family in Genesis 37, we run into sibling rivalry at its worst. Jacob had twelve sons by four different women, but only the youngest son, Joseph, was the son of Rachel, the love of Jacob's life. It's obvious that Jacob favored Joseph from the time he was born. That favoritism did not set well with the brothers, and because they were human, jealousy, hatred, and bitterness took seed in their hearts and bloomed into full-blown treachery.

At this point, I encourage you to read Genesis 37, if you haven't, and get a feel for the family dynamics in Jacob's brood. It was dicey and no one, including Jacob and Joseph, was without fault. No, the brothers did not react in a godly way to Jacob giving Joseph a "coat of many colors" that was similar to what men of high standing would wear. It wasn't the normal dull-colored, short sleeve tunic that most teenage boys his age wore. Now think about this for a minute. If the father had always favored the little brother and then crowned him with this expensive, royal-like garment, they would naturally be angry. I'm not saying their attitude was right, but it was natural. Sometimes we seem to focus on their actions without considering why they felt the way they did. When we put ourselves in others' shoes, we sometimes see ourselves.

Joseph didn't always help his plight with the brothers, either. I mean, did he have to share his dreams with them? Dreams that put them subservient to him. According to Warren Wiersbe (see my Bible study references on the left), it was most likely God's will that the brothers and then Jacob hear about his dreams. However, the problem might have been in how Joseph presented it to them. You know, presentation is the thing! How we say something can instill peace or insight riot! Joseph was a bit brash and perhaps flaunted his favoritism when he should have shown humility.

Anyhow, when Jacob sent Joseph out to check on the brothers, the last straw had been drawn. Galations 5:19-21 tells us that the deeds of the flesh are, among other things, enimities, strife, jealousy, anger, disputes, and envying. Take your pick - they were all present as the brothers connived a way to get rid of Joseph without his blood literally being on their hands. After stripping him of his coat and throwing him into a deep pit from which he could not climb out, they ended up selling him as a slave to some Ishmaelites who were passing by on their way to Egypt. (Ishmaelites - get the connection?) When they returned home, they took the coat, which they had dipped in blood, to their father who then assumed the boy had been devoured by some wild animal.

Now, how's that for sibling rivalry gone too far? What can we learn from this episode in history? Many things starting with these:

• Jealousy, hatred, and bitterness are an all consuming fire. Whether they thread through families or other relationships, they are costly - if not deadly. They are listed in Galations as deeds of the flesh because they are natural, human reactions. However, they can be countered and overcome by the fruit of the Holy Spirit, who lives in the heart of a true believer.That's what putting on the "new" nature is all about.
• Favoritism is a destructive force and has no place in any of our relationships. Whether it's family, work, or social situations, it will breed the deeds of the flesh. The outcome will not be good. Aren't you glad that Jesus knows no favorites? He loves me regardless of what I do or don't do, and He died for all and does not pick and choose to whom He offers salvation, He gives a royal cloak to ALL who receive Him.
• We need to "grow up in Christ." Joseph learned about God from his father Jacob, and followed His teachings. But when God gave him some spiritual insight, he handled it poorly. He reacted with arrogance instead of humility, and it fueled the hatred of his brothers. The fruit of the Spirit, proof that one is growing in relationship with Him, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-24). Joseph could have benefited from some of those.
• Ultimately, God is in control and He will see His will through. We will never know if all that transpired between the brothers and Joseph was God's will or if He just allowed it. But, if you have read on in Genesis, you know the end of the story. God's people were saved from certain death by famine because of the role Joseph came to play in the government of Egypt. Once again, we see the truth of the promise in Romans 8:28 - "All things work together for good to them who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes."

Sibling rivalry is part of the natural course of growing up with brothers and sisters. Enough said about that. But think about sibling rivalry within the body of Christ. We are brothers and sisters through His blood. When we let the deeds of the flesh control our motives, actions, and words, we are instruments that can infuse that same all-consuming fire witnessed in Jacob's family into our spiritual family.

Woe be to those who mess with God's family!

Faith is Not Having to Have All the Answers...

We had another family discussion tonight concerning the events we've been reading about in Genesis.We agreed on at least a couple of things. One is our curiosity about why God continues to be faithful to unfaithful people. Second, they had some mighty strange customs that don't seem "right."

Now, a part of me is really glad that we see the Lord God continuing to be faithful to the people of Abraham's family tree - at least those on the Isaac side of the tree. It shows me that God doesn't give up on people. In fact, He gives them chance after chance to follow Him and obey His will. That's not to say they don't have to face the consequences of their choices when they disobey. But God, in His sovereignty, will ultimately see His plan for man fulfilled. In other words, we may alter His plan for our lives, but we cannot alter His plan for this world.

He makes a covenant with Abraham that He will make Abraham the Father of Many Nations - God's chosen people. He is given Sarah as his wife, and together they follow after the Lord God. God takes His time in blessing them with a promised son. We're talking about years! Years past the normal child-bearing age. So they take matters into their own hands. Sarah suggests that Abe take her servant, Hagar, and have a son with her - and he does. That was not how God wanted it, but He allowed it. Since the beginning, He gave man free will to make his own choices. As we all know from personal experiences, man (and woman) doesn't always make the right choice! Abe and Sarah did their part to "help" God along with His promise, and the result was the birth of Ishmael. God's plan was not to generate His chosen people via an illegitimate son. God allowed the birth of that son but not the birth of His nation through that son. His plan didn't change. Human nature took its course, and Sarah became resentful of Hagar and her son, and finally had Abraham send them away. How Abe handled that was really not humane - at least in our way of thinking. Sending a mom and her young son out to the desert with little provisions is a death sentence. However, God had mercy on them and promised her that her son would also father a nation, but this nation would be in contention with Abe's. Ishmael became the father of the Edomites. Today's native Middle Eastern people, the Arabs and Palestinians, are descended from the Edomites. Is there contention? Oh yeah....

God did fulfill His promise to Abe and Sarah, and they became parents to Isaac. Why did He make them wait so long? Was He testing them? Growing them? Toying with them? Didn't He know they would take matters into their own hands and mess up the plan? Why didn't He wipe them out and start over like he did with Noah? I can't answer those questions. There are some things we will never know or understand in this life. Part of faith is not having to have all the answers.

God's promise to Abraham was passed on to Isaac, who married Rebekah. They also had issues. When she finally did get pregnant, she had twins. Essau was born first, followed by Jacob. God intended for Jacob to carry the covenant promise even though Essau was the older son. Again, we see the mom take things into her own hands instead of waiting on the Lord and His timing. Rebekah and Jacob conspired and cheated Essau out of his father's blessing. They did not wait on the Lord. And again, there were consequences to their actions. Essau determined to get his revenge by killing Jacob, so Jacob was sent away for his own safety. It took him twenty years to return home, and he never saw his mother again. Essau married into Ishmael's family, thus, consolidating the forces against God's chosen people.

God continued in His faithfulness to His people and blessed Jacob with twelve sons, from whom He would divide and populate Abraham's descendants. Now, there was treachery in Jacob's story as well. His twelve sons were from four different women, two of whom were his wives, and two of whom were servants. Today, we live in a culture of a husband and one wife - at least, one at a time! It is not okay to have affairs with multiple people. Why was it different back then? Was that okay with God? If so, when did the rules change?

Once again, I don't have all the answers - but here's the thing. I am okay with not having all the answers. I know with confidence what God's plan for our generation is, and that's what I am to live out.

I don't know or understand why God put up with so much wishy-washyness and deceit. If I think too hard on it, I begin to get angry! Now isn't that ironic?

So, let me try to sum up some of the things learned from these accounts of God's people.

• God is faithful even when we are not. He keeps His word and does what He says He will do.
• God works on His on time-table. His timing is perfect, and when I try to "help" Him along, I am actually attempting to usurp His authority!
• God made man with a free will. However, when our will acts contrary to His will, there will be consequences that may ripple out beyond ourselves and may continue to ripple for eternity.
• If the poor choices of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their families frustrate me to the point of getting angry, how much more frustrated must God be with His people (like me) when I am unfaithful to Him?

This is not an end-all list of lessons to be gleaned from the first thirty six chapters of Genesis. This is just the list that jumps out at me as I write. I pray that the Lord will continue to mull His Word over in my heart and mind and continue to teach me. And I pray that I will be open to His Spirit's teaching.

The Art of Obedience...

Since I last wrote about my journey through Genesis, I've moved from Chapter 15 to Chapter 33. That's way more history than I can cover here. I've seen the lives of Abraham and Isaac played out and am in the middle of Jacob's life. God used these three men to create the foundation of the Christian faith. One thing is clear from reading about their lives - they were not perfect! And I am so glad! That gives us all hope and promise that He will use us and our imperfections and missteps to bring about His will in our world and in our personal lives. We don't have to be perfect - just obedient.

Abraham (Abram) was a descendant of Noah's son Shem. We are not told why God singled him out to become the Father of Many Nations, but we do know that Abraham loved the Lord God, and, thus, found favor in His sight. He married Sarah (Sarai), and she was barren for MANY years. God continued to bless Abraham and Sarah and brought them into the land of Caanan and told him that his discendants would possess this land and they would number more than the stars.Now Abe and Sarah were getting on up there in years (much like Zach & Liz from Luke 1) and still, they had no children. Abe talked this over with the Lord on different ocassions - how was he to be the father of many nations when he wasn't even a father of one child? But God kept promising him it would happen.  And, by-golly, it did - when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was only ten years younger! Now much happened in between including Abe fathering a child, Ishmael, by Sarah's servant. Like I said, he wasn't perfect! But we know that when Isaac was born, Abraham and Sarah were filled with unspeakable joy! God had blessed them and had proven faithful!

Over those years, Abraham learned a lot about what it means to walk with God. He made some serious mistakes along the way, but he never let his mistakes turn him away from following the Lord. Through those years, he also learned about obedience and the consequences of disobedience. He grew into the man who, indeed, could and would be the patriarch of the Christian faith. All of his mistakes, all that sojourning through the countryside, and all the challenges that his life had brought, prepared him for a final test of faith.

God asked Abraham to sacrifice that precious son for whom he had waited so many years. WOW! How could He ask such a thing? It's one thing to sacrifice your best lamb or goat, but it's another thing to give up your only son! Why would He ask such a thing? He had promised that son and had promised to multiply his descendants - he couldn't do that without Isaac.Talk about a turn-of-events that you don't understand! But Abraham didn't even question Him. He just went about being obedient. Now, in the old days, the younger Abraham would have barked back at God much like he did when God told him that Sarah would bear a son. He fell on his face and laughed and scoffed because of their age. But this Abraham was more seasoned in the knowledge and ways of God.

Now, let's stop for a minute and think about this situation. Abraham is walking his only son, the one he had waited many years for, up the hill in order to build an altar and lay Isaac on it and watch him burn to death! What gut-wrenching turmoil must Abraham been going through! Was he arguing with himself, torn between his love for his son and his love for God? He had to be! When that sweet little boy asked "Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?" didn't he want to gather him in his arms and run back down the hill? Sure he did!

Was Abe really willing to go through with what God had asked of him? The answer is yes. He built the altar, then took Isaac and bound him and laid him on top of the wood. He took a knife and stretched out his arm to slay him, but an angel stopped him. I picture this as Abe holding that knife in the air, praying to the Father, and as his hand begins to come down toward the boy, the angel speaks - and Abe is stopped in mid-air. I think that because I think God wanted to see into his heart and know that he was willing to give his very best to Him.

Am I willing to give my very best to the Lord?

He was willing to give His very best to me...in Jesus Christ. And He went through with it! The parallel between this event and the sacrifice of His only son is undeniable. God loves us so much that He called for His own Son's sacrifice to take the place of our own. He watched His Son walk up Calvary's hill and be laid out on that wooden cross and die a horrible death - so that I wouldn't have to. "For God so loved the world (that's you and me) that He gave His only begotten Son (that's Jesus) so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

And just as Abraham was obedient to the point of sacrificing his son, Jesus was obedient to the point of literally giving his life for me. God desires obedience. Obedience allows His plan and purpose for our lives to be fulfilled. Abraham did go on to become the Father of Many Nations and the patriarch of our faith.

What is His plan for me, for you? We will never know all that He has planned for us until we learn the Art of Obedience.Sometimes it may be costly; however, He provides the strength and grace we need to get through it.