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]
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.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment