A Can of Fear...

I caught a few remarks from a Democrat politician a couple of days ago and was surprised when I realized that all he was doing was stirring up FEAR into the hearts of his audience, which was mainly made up of mainstream media reporters.  Think about that for a moment.  That FEAR would then be published in papers around the country, broadcast on radio and TV and zoom through the internet at breakneck speeds.  The one refreshing aspect of his report was that it was not spoken out against the President… but toward a decision made by the Senate Majority Leader.

Being in positions of leadership in ministry and with three major US corporations for most of my adult life, I have first-hand experience concerning the effects that FEAR has when dealing with decisions that one may not agree with.  FEAR can not only serve to diminish the attitude of the individuals involved, but can spread like wild fire within a work group unless it is immediately addressed and resolved.  I have also witnessed how it caused employees to make wrong decisions when operating machinery and put theirs as well as their co-worker’s safety in harm’s way.

In many respects, the same can be said for members of a family, within social friendships and in church congregations.  To my surprise, I came to the understanding early on within the journey that Piper and I were forced to embark upon with the attack on her health, that one of my main and most reoccurring responsibilities was to dispel FEAR that rose up in many of the people that we interacted with. 

In our case, if left unattended, it would physically affect Piper’s health, as she would become confused, glassy eyed and less responsive if she stayed in that environment too long.  That situation was one of the many factors that contributed to our decision to move to North Carolina.  I calculated the other day that Piper actually lived five years longer than the average life span of someone diagnosed with Alzheimer’s… and I am very happy about that statistic!

With all the FEAR being broadcast over the airwaves, in print and on every electronic device we carry with us, it almost takes an act of God to stay in a place of peace and rest!  And you know what?  That act of God did take place over 2000 years ago when Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected and given the highest place of authority and honor at the right hand of the Father.  Paul explained this when he prayed for us in Ephesians 1:18-20 that:

“The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named…” (KJV)

So, there you go!  With all those major secular forces attempting to influence us by FEARFULLY telling us where we can go, what we should say and even worse… what we should be thinking, its more than refreshing to know that as Christians, we are accountable to a HIGHER POWER, to a name that is greater than FEAR!  A name that can bring order in our lives in the middle of a world-wide shake up, and leave us in peace, love, joy and with a positive attitude!

I was reading in Philippians 4:7 this morning that “it is in the place of God’s wonderful peace that transcends all human understanding, where God makes known His answers (to our questions) through Christ Jesus.” (The Passion Translation-personalized)  That scripture tells me that if I allow the world’s FEAR to enter into my life, then I am NOT going to get the answers that I need to know!  FEAR will cause us to make uninformed or mis-informed decisions that will only serve to make things worse and keep the cycle of FEAR operating in our lives.

When we enter into and STAY in the place of God’s peace, then FEAR doesn’t stand a chance of sneaking into our daily thoughts, actions or desires!  Our daily attitudes and possibilities will turn into CAN-DOs rather than CAN-NOTs!

So, which CAN do you want to DO?  The unlimited resources and abilities of CAN-DO or the limited, joy stealing, attitude busting, energy zapping, dead-end of CAN- NOT???

I’ve always been a CAN man myself… How about you?  What possibilities ARE you or ARE you not expecting today?  The choice is up to you!  Have a GREAT weekend!