Once By The Pacific

The shattered water made a misty din.
Great waves looked over others coming in,
And thought of doing something to the shore
That water never did to land before.

Robert Frost --- Once By The Pacific

When Fear Grips the Human Soul

even the most godly of us have the capacity act in such a manner not characteristic of one who is trusting in God. What sort of things can create or accentuate fear? There is physical or emotional exhaustion. Concerns about the unknown — the I have never been this way before syndrome can create intense fear. Then there is sensing that life is beyond our control. Such situations have the potential of creating a lack of confidence in God. Disappointment sets in — we are not such “spiritual giants after all.” There is the sense that spiritual warriors such as Abraham or Elijah would never have failed in such a way.

But hold on a moment lets examine the lives of Abraham and Elijah. Did they never fail because of fear? The patriarch Abraham had a unique relationship with God. The Lord specifically called him to go to a foreign land where he would become a great people (Gen. 12:1-3). On numerous occasions God spoke to him (Gen 12:7, 15:1, 17:1-2). Prior to the Lord’s destruction of Sodom, the city in which his nephew Lot lived, Abraham spoke face to face with the pre-incarnate Christ negotiating to save the city from destruction (see Gen. 18).

In spite of this singular relationship with the Lord on two occasions he passed his wife off as his sister. He did this with Pharaoh (Gen. 12:14-15) and later on with King Abimelech of Gerar (Gen 20:1-2). He did this out of fear. Sarah was so beautiful that he felt his life would be in danger if he admitted to being her husband. In passing himself off as her brother he felt they would treat him well (Gen 12:12-13). Abraham followed this course of action even though God had yet to fulfill his promise of a son. He believed Jehovah’s promise of a son but lacked the confidence to trust God for the protection of his own life.

Then what about Elijah. He was a bold prophet of God who confronted King Ahab to declare that Israel would have a long drought (1 Kings 17:1). He faithfully followed God’s instructions during the time of the drought. Then he courageously confronted Ahab to declare the end of the drought 3 years later (1 Kings 18:17). His boldness continued to increase as he commanded Ahab to assemble the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah for a competition which would determine whether Baal or Jehovah was truly God.

The prophets of Baal and Asherah lost the competition and Elijah slew all the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:40). In response to Elijah’s prayers God sent the rain (1 Kings 18:45). Then something happened. Queen Jezebel heard what Elijah had done and “sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them”” (1 Kings 19:2). The queen's message so terrified this mighty prophet of God that he fled to Beersheba and then into the wilderness. He was able to stand up to the king, to questions about his credibility as a prophet of the Lord (1 Kings 17:24) and to 850 false prophets but then fear gripped him in the angry and threatening words of Quen Jezzebel.  All of a sudden he lacked the confidence to trust God for his continuing protection.

What happened to these two men? Under situations of intense physical and psychological stress both became frozen with fear and temporairly lost the ability to trust in the Lord. Fear had placed them successfully in the chains of bondage. Have you ever been in a stressful situation where you felt stretched beyond all human endurance?  How did you react to that situation? --- was it one of great confidence in God --- or did you also experience the deep freeze of fear as Abraham and Elijah did in their extreme hour of testing.  May God grant us the strength to stand firm!



Copyright. Bruce November 2012



Note: All quotes taken from the New Living Translation Second Edition.