Friday, September 1, 2017

Calling Fear's Bluff

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In one of his books, Max Lucado, writes about an infamous bandit who preyed upon travelers in the days of the Old West. Black Bart struck fear in the hearts of many along the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims. His sinister presence was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard.[1]

                                   Image result for black bart

Black Bart is reminiscent of another thief, who still lurks in the shadows. Even though you’ve never seen his face, you could describe his voice. When he’s near, you know it in a heartbeat. Jesus gave us a mugshot in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.” Satan uses the psychology of fear to paralyze God’s people and rob us of our peace, joy and strength.

However, I have noticed a pattern in the Devil’s strategy—behind every fear is a falsehood. Our Enemy deploys lies in order to create dread, anxiety and worry; each of which undermine our faith in God. In fact, someone has said that F-E-A-R is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing Real. Satan is a lion with no teeth (1 Peter 5:8), a serpent with no fangs (Rom. 16:20).  

Think about it: when you’ve sinned and blown it Satan uses this lie, “It’s over. God can never use you again. There’s no recovering from this one.” When you’re sick and laying on your back in the hospital Satan whispers, “Do you really think God loves you? If He did then why are you suffering?” When you are in a financial pinch and you don’t know how you are going to make it, Lucifer the liar intimidates, “I guess your God is up there asleep. Your stuck in a deep pit, don’t even try praying. He won’t hear you.” Fear is a liar and we must call it's bluff. 

Our Enemy looks for the cracks in our foundation and wherever he can drive in a wedge of fear he can divide our mind and control us. I have discovered that fear is really all about control. Satan uses fear as a means of control—he makes us afraid so we won’t trust and obey God.  

Image result for perfect love casts out all fear

Thankfully, the Lord has an answer for fear—love. His love is greater than anything you could possibly fear or that could possibly happen to you. 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. . .” Believing God’s love gives us courage. It doesn’t just give us courage when we stand before Him after we die, but every day of our lives as we face uncertainties and questions, changes and challenges on the road of life and making decisions about the future. God’s love gives us courage because we know He has our back. There is nowhere we can go, there is no decision we can make, there is no failure we can experience, or any problem we will encounter that God won’t be there to help. -DM



[1] Max Lucado, The Applause of Heaven (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1990), 77-78. 

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