FEAR vs PEACE

When the seriousness of the spread of the Corona Virus was first becoming apparent to the general public, I immediately went to my Bible and opened it up to my favorite and most well-used protection scripture found in Psalm 91:10.  I know the scripture by heart but there is something even more personal and powerful… at least to me… to physically look it up in my favorite Bible.  Here the Psalmist writes: “No evil shall befall you, nor will any plague come near your dwelling.” (NASB)   

For greater impact, I learned a long time ago to personalize scriptures like this, so I automatically began to say, with a strong conviction of heart that: “No evil shall befall ME and no plague, sickness or disease shall come near MY dwelling!”  Other translations interpret the world “dwelling” as “house”, so I have always taken that to believe that my confession of this verse includes everyone and everything in my household as well as on my property!

I thought it was very interesting and timely to observe that the newest addition to my stable of Bibles, The Passion Translation, states this verse (combining verses 9&10) as: “When we live our lives within the shadow of God Most High, our secret hiding place, we will always be shielded from harm. How then could evil prevail against us or disease infect us?”  I just felt like that was the Holy Spirit confirming what I already knew to be true for this particular strain of virus, at this particular point in time! 

Now that a few weeks have gone by and it seems like one cannot go but for a few moments without being bombarded with the news and updates about what has now become a world-wide pandemic… that standing on the truth of this verse and many others like it in the Bible is more important than ever!  With churches closed and public gatherings being limited to less than10 people in our area, I had the opportunity to attend two church services yesterday… without leaving the comfort of my study!

Both churches had upbeat services, sang songs praising the virtues of God’s power and protection and had the Pastor’s teaching on God’s abilities to keep us from fear, heal us and keep us safe in troubled times… And in my way of thinking, it was EXACTLY what we the people needed to hear and put our faith in… RIGHT? 

Well, according to what I hear and see on the news… I’d be wrong with that assumption!  I have been finding myself getting increasingly frustrated and upset with all the FEAR that is being projected by the news media.  Sure, we need to know and stay up-to-date on the facts, but why does such a highly negative and fear-filled point of view seem to be incorporated into almost every headline and be the center of almost every article or report?

Then to make it even worse (or simply down right FOOLISH looking to me), is the argumentative behavior of some of the so-called news reporters who get upset and question the President’s positive and encouraging attitude when he addresses the nation with the daily pandemic updates.  I personally think that he is doing an excellent job in keeping us informed and at the same time hopeful in our country’s ability to overcome this latest national disaster.

Philippians 4:6-7 clearly and simply gives us the key to overcoming the attack of this so-called “Invisible Enemy” by encouraging us to make the personal decision to, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, along with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.” (EMTV) 

Once again, The Passion Translation makes it even more succinct, saying in a more modern and understandable tone, “Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ.” 

The part about not being “pulled in different directions” is what helped me the most.  I noticed this morning that I was all built up and confident after my Bible study but almost lost it when I glanced over at the news headlines on the home page on my computer while eating breakfast.  I realized that in a moments time I allowed myself to be “pulled in different directions” with God’s Good News on the one hand, and the world’s Bad and Fear-laced News on the other.  I realized after a few moments of noticing that I had lost a big part of my peace, that I had a decision to make.  Which direction was I going to go?  Well, it was a no-brainer for me, but understanding what had happened was a great lesson to learn!  I’m going to do my best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

And how am I going to accomplish that?  By following Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:6 where he tells us to saturate ourselves in prayer throughout each and every day.  For me that simply means keeping in communication with Him throughout the course of my day by purposely focusing more of my attention on Him and the truth of His Word than I do on the news and/or the opinions of others.  

Then when we follow these directions, Paul goes on to say in the very next verse, that the PEACE of God will guard our hearts and our thoughts from the barrage of FEAR that is trying to invade our lives in the midst of this serious situation that the world is facing.  Simple right?  Well… to be honest… maybe not!  It is a course of action that we have to make a personal decision to follow, and believe me when I say that it takes a lot of dedication and commitment to accomplish!  If you’re anything like me, then you’ve got your phone apps constantly beeping alerts about the situation, the radio telling you how bad things are… and I won’t even get into the TV news!

BUT… when you persist in following Paul’s advice, life will be a lot more positive and calming in the midst of all the life changes we are having to deal with.  It also helps you to be a carrier of God’s peace to a troubled world!  That’s been my prayer… that the Love, Peace and Grace of God would be so overflowing and overwhelming in me that it is splashes onto to everyone I should come into contact with… or at least come near to six feet of them!

Go in His peace and say with me… “I am expecting the peace that I am allowing to get into me, to splash onto others today!”