The Struggle Within

Fear includes anxiety, dread, and loss of courage in the face of an unpleasant or dangerous situation. The fear of God can refer either to the awe, reverence, and respect that is the proper deferential attitude toward the divine, or the physical dread and terror evoked by the divine presence or by the experience of divine wrath.

There are plenty of things to be fearful of. Fear is a natural response to the unknown, and to situations where there exists a potential for trouble. Some fear rises as the result of mental troubles such as phobias. Since March 2020 (over past nineteen months), the world has been dealing with the COVID-19 viral pandemic. Every government has tried to produce a way to keep its citizens safe from the virus. Often, some governments seem to have pushed the safety of the people a bit too far with lockdowns, mask mandates, isolation, vaccinations, vaccine passports, social distancing, uncertainty, and fear. For a brief period, people were willing to put up with some of these draconian measures to be safe. However, as the pandemic wore on, and these measures persisted, there came with it a host of other issues. What we saw was an increase in suicides, violence on the streets, employment loss, small businesses collapsed never to reopen, and distrust in what the government was saying. Children were held back from social interactions, sporting events either cancelled, or held without any fans, and on and on and on it went. Traveling around, it was noticed how people seemed to be watching others, watching for those not following the CDC guidelines, and even fearful that others may be carrying the contagion. During one trip it was alarming observing people as they entered stores, gas stops, and hotels looking deflated and worn out, and in some cases angry. Every place visited was the same, no exceptions, people were lacking joy, happiness, peace, and vigor; it was like everyone’s dignity and freedoms was snatched away. In conversations, there was this sense of people becoming fearful and losing trust in their representatives, the media and especially Washington concerning COVID-19 and the newer variants. Even some who say they are Christian seem to have been taken in by the political banter by locking their social activities. Many churches were accepting the CDC guidelines not to meet in person, or to have limited occupancy to stop the spread of the virus. It truly appears as if people are willing to accept anything the government said, even if their demands violated the very laws of our nation. To me, staying safe is not something the government should dictate, how to stay safe is a personal decision, and the CDC guidelines should have been nothing more than guidelines that everyone could chose to accept, or add to their own safety decisions. What many people and churches did was an admission of obedience to the world system in the name of safety rather than to God’s system of dependence on Him and Him alone. Going along to get along is fear, a worldly and unhealthy fear. In other words, far too many people have become driven by a desire to survive no matter what they have to surrender, and in so doing, what the scriptures call the deeds of the flesh is fulfilled.

Scripture states:

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.  Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” Romans 13:1-2 BSB

A key to understanding these verses is who established the authorities. God established or set in place all the authorities that exist, and since God did that, any law that is outside what God established is not to be obeyed.  Later in the Romans 13: 3-4 we read “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but too bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval. For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.” If the authorities are conducting themselves under God’s authority, then we should fear them if we do wrong because they are there to uphold God’s justice. When the authorities ack as God intended, the wrongdoer can seek forgiveness and repent. However, today what we are witnessing is that the authorities are not conducting themselves as God intended, and no matter if you are bad or not bad, you are guilty, and that brings on a fear boosted with anxiety and rage.

Back to fear. As mentioned earlier, fear is natural. However, fear is also driven by two distinct systems. One system is known as the world system, and the other is known as the Biblical system. There are many ways to distinguish the differences between the two systems, and I’m not going to go into all of them in this post. What I wish to bring to attention comes from several of Paul’s letter’s that show what the world system is like and what the Biblical system is like.

We can see the characteristics of the world system in the following: 

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.“  Galatians 5:19-21 BSB

“Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They invent new forms of evil; they disobey their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, merciless.” Romans 1: 28-31 BSB

“But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!” 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 BSB

We can see the characteristics of God’s Kingdom in the following:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5: 22-23 BSB

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 BSB

“Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8: 5-8 BSB

What I’m saying here is that the act of the flesh produces a fear to give in to things not of God just to keep the peace or be seen as part of the community at large. This is the world system that our flesh is so quick to embrace simply because of fear.

The Biblical system fear is an awe, or reverence of God, not of illness, or government mandates. And I hope you noticed that the Biblical system states that if you belong to God’s kingdom there is no law.

We should not become as the unsaved because of fear, or those who use that fear to deceive, and distort the Word of God. We out all that is unholy, all that is fleshly, primal, base, pagan, deceitful to Christ Jesus. We are not to attempt to overcome these things on our own, we should, as members of the body of Christ have faith in Christ to protect us and strengthen us during the times when fear seems overwhelming.

How we should be as followers of Jesus Christ:

“Do not call conspiracy everything these people regard as conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear; do not live-in dread.” Isaiah 8:12 BSB

“Do not tremble or fear. Have I not told you and declared it long ago? You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I know not one.” Isaiah 44:8 BSB

“And you should not be afraid of those killing the body but not being able to kill the soul. Indeed, you should fear the One being able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Matthew 10:28 BSB

“Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.” Isaiah 41:10 BSB

“But this is not the way you came to know Christ. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus— to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another. ‘Be angry, yet do not sin.’ Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need. Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry, and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4: 20-32 BSB

Our faith does not rely of the world’s system to overcome fear, to overcome fear, our faith is in Jesus Christ alone.

Mike Kovach
The Christian Underground Journal
August 2021

BSB = Berean Study Bible

Views: 9