Fear Brings About Bondage - The Christian Online Magazine

The Christian Online Magazine -

It is not difficult for the average writer these days to find a subject to write about, first the attacks on America and now America has struck back at the terrorists. We are all glued to the TV sets watching for the latest developments regarding the war, praying that Osama Bin Laden will somehow be brought down along with his organization.

The events of September 11 left America with more than buildings destroyed and lives lost. They left us with a spirit of fear. These attackers are called terrorists because they know their most powerful weapon is fear. When many fellow American’s think of terrorist, they are thinking in terms of powerful weapons such as bombs or guns, explosives, anthrax or some other biological weapon. However, the most powerful weapon they can use and are using is fear.

A few recent news stories show how pervasive this fear has become. An airliner was forced to land and fighter jets scrambled because a man of Arab descent was smoking in the rest room and became angry when told to stop. An IRS processing facility was shut down because a woman found some sort of powdery substance on an envelope. Tweezers and fingernail files are not being allowed on planes. Given the present circumstances, these may or may not be reasonable precautions, they are indicative of the level of fear present in the country.

This spirit of fear is even invading the church. First, let me say the church for the most part has seen a growth in attendance, but some folks are afraid to even travel to a church meeting alone. Some people are accustomed to going alone, but fear had pervaded their minds.

It has been nearly two months now since the attacks, yet many people are still depressed and unable to sleep for fear. Now fear is running even more rampant as we are engaged in heavy battle as the America and our Allies seek to destroy terrorism once and for all. Fear clings to some people even more so at this time. Listen to their conversations at work, at the market place, even in the schools. Does the Bible not forewarn us this would happen?

Let us look at what the Word of God says concerning the last days.

Luke 21:26 - "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken"

Listen to what the Word of God is saying even now to us as Children of God as we read from the following scripture.

I Timothy 1.7 says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

If anything, Christians should be the calm presence in the midst of the storms facing us today.

So, then how can be fight the fear.

1. First we are to put our trust in God and then depend on man second. While security precautions are good, your protection as a Christian does not depend on them.

The Psalmist said, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God." (Psalm 20.7) Our security lies in God. Does this mean we don't take reasonable precautions? Certainly not. As always, one needs to lock their doors at night, be aware of their surroundings, be patient with the delays at airports, but lets not become obsessive about safety. Nothing is totally safe, but God is always faithful.

2. Don't allow News Reports to consume you. We are all interested in what is happening, but we don't need to spend hours of our time watching the same scenes as the war now goes ahead full speed. People spent hours watching the collapse of the World Trade Towers. We need to limit the number of hours we spend watching such reports. Read more of your news from newspapers and news magazines. These are less visually involving than television.

3. Turn a deaf ear to Internet rumors. They can spread rapidly. Somebody's cousin or best friend's husband's brother who has a son who is in the CIA that..... We are learning that these types of stories are invariably untrue and serve only to inspire unwarranted fear. If there is a legitimate, imminent, known threat, the official agencies will make the announcement through regular media outlets. Even in these cases listen for specifics. A warning that "Officials are reporting that a terrorist attack is likely to occur during the next few weeks, could be useful for law enforcement officials, so they can keep their eyes open, but means very little in the way of assessing your own personal vulnerability.

4. Assess the real level of personal vulnerability. The events of September 11 were horrific, but put in perspective, your chances of being killed in an automobile accident are much higher than being killed in a terrorist attack. People living in a small town should be afforded a sense of security since a terrorist attack would go after population centers for the most carnage. If you fly, consider the fact with all the security in place, this is probably the safest time to fly in years.

5. Live a normal life. If we completely change our life style we are giving in to fear and that is exactly what these cowards want us to do. They want us to cancel any plans we have made that would take us to theme parks, ball games, concerts or evangelistic crusades. They want us to be peering behind every tree looking for something that could harm us. They would have us give up all our freedoms for fear of drinking water, bombs or even biological warfare. Fear is their weapon and their goal. They have no realistic hope of conquering us, but they can bring us to our knees in fear and in so doing we conquer ourselves.

When we are able to conquer fear in our hearts, we can help those around us replace their spirit of fear with the spirit of confidence in Christ. We will be able then to share peace in the world around us. We can point those who are fearful around us to the one who has conquered all fear. In so doing, we defeat Satan's plans. We turn what he meant for evil into something God is transforming into good.