What Have I to Fear

The words “fear not” are used more than 110 times across both the Old and New Testaments. These inspired words come from a God who knows our human frailties and understands our weaknesses. We are instructed not to fear even when there are visible reasons to fear because the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered all things creating human fear. The Bible sets up fear and faith as polar opposites. When fear rules, faith fails. Where faith reigns, fear falls.

Constantly bombarded with temptations to fear, Satan and his minions torture believers by provoking them to abandon their trust in God and bury themselves under the weight of fearful circumstances. Fear is momentary atheism that denies God’s goodness, his ability and his plan. It reduces the majesty and power of God in our hearts and shrinks him as one who is effectively powerless. It deceitfully whispers the lie first spoken in the Garden of Eden—your Creator is not a good Father. This scenario is repeated every time we yield to irrational fear.

Anthony Showalter and Elisha Hoffman penned the words of this hymn:

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Does this not read as nonsense in our time? Simply reading Twitter timelines gives us much fodder for dread. Terrorism threatens our way of life. Human dignity is being assaulted on every level. Corruption infects our institutions.

While fear might motivate the unbelieving masses, it should not capture the Christian. A biblically informed trust in Christ transforms fear into confidence that God holds the future in his hands. It fills believers with the courage to be on mission for God in a very dark world. Governments will fail, economies may crumble, moralities might shift, but Jesus remains the same—yesterday, today and forever. While the news cycle might deliver daily news of the realities of a fallen world, Christians have a Savior who whispers a word of peace in our storms.

No one knows who will win the coming Presidential election. We must fulfill our duties as citizens of this great nation because we love our cities and seek their welfare, working for the common good. But we do this not with fear, but with joy as we look beyond this election cycle to that eternal city to come, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).