MOVING
FROM FEAR TO FAITH
Introduction: For the past several weeks, the world has been
shaken up by the life-threatening danger posed by the unseen powerful force of
the Coronavirus. It has brought the world literally to a standstill. Public
health officials have quarantined many people, and others have been
self-quarantined out of precaution. If you go shopping, empty grocery shelves
glare at you. Empty sports arenas, theaters, shopping complexes, restaurants, Airplanes,
church buildings are only exposing the emptiness in our hearts. Fear and
anxiety are looming large.
It
is not the first time that we faced this kind of worldwide calamity,
seventy-five years ago, during World War II, the atomic bomb threat was real.
Here is the advice of C.S Lewis on how to respond to such times of fear, “The
first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are going
to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb, when it comes, find us doing
sensible and human things -- praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to
music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a
pint and a game of darts -- not huddled together like frightened sheep and
thinking about bombs.”
I think it is excellent advice even for our
time. Due to Coronavirus though we are prohibited from social interactions and
community gatherings, we can still find ourselves doing sensible human things,
such as praying, listening to God’s word, etc. We can even pull together and
encourage one another by participating in the Sunday service through live
streaming and praying for each other through Mid-Week Video Prayer Meeting,
call, e-mail, or text each other.
Where
there is a will, there is away. I encourage you as your pastor; please do not
neglect to assemble virtually and build one another up. At times like these, when there is no public
Church worship service, we can become passive in our faith and be in real
danger of backsliding from following our Lord.
How do we stay focused and move from fear to faith?
Let
me take you back to an uncertain period, which can be called Israel’s “Dark
Ages.” The two great leaders Moses and Joshua were dead and gone. The
Israelites were in the promised land surrounded by powerful enemies. In the
absence of a strong leader, they repeatedly fell into idolatry, enemy
domination, intermarriage with pagans, and other major sins.
A
key verse to be noted in the book of Judges is that “In those days Israel had
no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges
17:6) Over and over, they forgot who the true God was. Every time they did
evil, God would hand them over to their enemies, and when they cried out to
God, He would raise a “hero or heroine” to deliver them from the hands of their
enemies. From here, we will pick our story up. In Judges 6:1-6.
“The
Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So, the Lord handed them over to the
Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites
made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. Whenever
the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the
people of the east would come in hordes, stayed until the land was stripped
bare. So, Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites.
Then
the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.” To summarize, the Israelites
sinned against God, and God handed them over to their enemies. Their enemies
oppressed them severely by plundering their crops. Out of the fear of their
enemies, they were hiding in their dens, caves, and strongholds in the
mountains. The once-mighty people of God now were brought very low because of
their enemies. They cried out to the Lord for help.
Let
me bring some parallels. Our times are
somewhat like the times of Israel’s dark history. As we see around the world,
many people have turned their backs against the true and living God. In the
absence of reliable and God-fearing leaders, people go about doing whatever
they think is right in their own eyes. As a result, evil thrives, and
righteousness suffers.
Every
time sin and evil increased in the past, God dealt with people who were living
in the land by either withholding rain, sending locusts to devour their crops,
or sending plagues to destroy people. In Ezekiel 28:23, we read, “I will send a
plague against you, and blood will be spilled in your streets. The attack will
come from every direction, and your people will lie slaughtered within your
walls. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord.”
When
I look at the scare and the devastation happening around the world due to
COVID-19, I cannot help but think, could this be an act of God to draw people’s
attention back to Him? How are our leaders and the scientists and medical
personal responding to this potent and invisible enemy of humanity? What are
they doing to contain its influence and keep us safe? How are people responding to this crisis? Out of the fear of
their enemies, the Israelites hid in dens, caves, and strongholds in the
mountains. Out of the fear of the virus, we are hiding behind our modern-day shelters
such as TVs, Computers, and Cellphones as we are ordered to stay indoors, for
how long nobody knows. People are getting restless and developing cabin fever.
Unless
God intervenes, and the COVID-19 may be here for a while and could only get
worse. Out of desperation, the Israelites cried out to God for help. I wonder
how many of our leaders and people are crying to God for His help? When people
cried out to God for help in our story, God intervened by sending an angel. Vs11-14,
Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from
the Midianites.
The
angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!
Just like many of us, Gideon responded and said, if God is with us, why has all
this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us
about? It is interesting to note God did not answer his questions. Instead, He
wanted Gideon to obey His orders.
The
Lord said to him and said, “Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel
from the Midianites. I am sending you.” Like Gideon, we may be hiding in our
homes due to the fear of our enemy, the COVID-19. We may be wondering where is
God in all this, why these things are happening to us, has he abandoned us, why
is he not doing anything by His power? And so on!
We
are indeed living in unprecedented, uncertain, and fear-filled times. During
such circumstances, when we cry out to God for help, he will come to rescue us and
give us a purpose to live for during these difficult times. God will come right
to where you are and address you saying, “Mighty hero, I am with you.” Go with
the strength you have and rescue my people.”
The call to Gideon is the same call to us
today. If you are a child of God, your real purpose in life is not to live for
yourself but to be part of God’s rescue mission, which is to lead people to
Christ. Even during these difficult times, God gives us the strength to
introduce people to Christ so that they, too, will find peace, hope, and
eternal salvation as we have received. How can we do that in a locked-down
situation?
First
of all, let’s get our lives together by asking God to forgive us for allowing
fear and unbelief cloud our focus. Fear and unbelief are sins. Having anxiety
is like putting our faith in the devil. Moving in disbelief is doubting God’s
character. For that reason, God comes to his people and commands them not to be
afraid and rebukes them for their unbelief.
Once
we received His forgiveness, then we will ask Him to fill us with faith, and
courage to take any steps of action, he might show us in leading people to
Christ. Lock-down situations present great opportunities to share our faith
with others. Without leaving our homes, we can invite people to watch our
Sunday services live stream. We can call text, e-mail, Facebook, Instagram, our
friends, and let them know we are praying for them. Are you afraid of the
virus? Fear not. God is with you. He will save you. He will move you from fear
to faith. Amen!
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