Have you ever been afraid? Have you had the experience of fear? I think if people will admit it, there was at least once in their life where they experienced fear. In the 32nd Chapter of Genesis it tells the story of how Jacob was in great fear of his brother Esau, and he had good reason to be. Many years before, Jacob had put the screws to his brother twice. Of the two times, the most serious was when Jacob tricked his father into giving him the blessings that belonged to Esau when his father was ill and nearly blind by pretending to be his brother. A man of God could not go back on his word so everything that should have been Esau’s was now Jacob’s. When Esau found out he said he was going to kill Jacob and Jacob fled to his uncle’s home which was a long way’s away. Jacob stayed there for many years and married. He also became very wealthy. There was some problems with his uncle. God told Jacob it was time to return home. Jacob took all of his servants and his wives and kids, along with his livestock and headed back home. He was in great fear of what his brother Esau would do to him so he sent his messengers ahead with all kinds of gifts to try to get Esau to not kill him as promised years before. When his messengers returned they told him Esau was coming to see him with 400 men! Jacob was really in fear now! As it turned out though, Esau was happy to see his brother and welcomed him with open arms.
Sometimes we forget that if we have God on our side we have nothing to fear. God told Jacob to go home. God didn’t take care of Jacob all them years and bring him that far just to abandon him later. Nor will God abandon you. I remember I started having dreams back in the mid 90’s about dying in a plane crash. I was in Bakersfield, California at the time and had a friend named Marcella. I shared with her what I had been dreaming one night and told her I had a flight the next day and was worried because of all those dreams I had been having. She said something that changed my life forever. She told me, “God didn’t bring you this far Johnny Lee Clary to abandon you now.” That hit me like a ton of bricks. I thought about how I had been a survivor. I thought about how I had escaped death so many times, from the ghettos of East L.A., to my exploits in the Ku Klux Klan, to driving drunk and even falling asleep at the wheel of my car once. I thought of how I had been shot at, stabbed, gone through a glass window in a fight, jumped by gangs, been in car crashes, had jealous husbands on the rampage looking for me, had contracts put out on me by the KKK, Nazis and Aryan Supremacists, and even crazy women I had been involved with threatening to kill me. Then I thought of how I was now saved, sanctified, a new creation serving God, and a whole new person from what I had been for years. Marcella had said something that changed me forever because it strengthened my faith and sent fear flying right out the window. Besides, I also thought about where I am going when I die and I realized it is stupid to have fear of death when you realize that eternal life begins when you become a Christian, and although your body will one day die here on Earth, your soul will live on forever in Heaven.
The word of God says in Romans 8:15 that God did not give us a spirit of fear but one of sonship. We are His children when we become a Christian. A good parent will look out for their child. I remember when I was around 10 or 11 I got into a fight with a kid on another block and beat the daylights out of him. That kid ended up having more friends than I could ever imagine. There was at the very least 30 or 40 kids that all came after me chasing me back to my block and into my house. I was in huge fear on the way home, and as I ran into the house I shouted “Daddy!” The mob had surrounded my house and was yelling for me to come back outside or they were going to come in and get me. My daddy came out the front door and yelled “Get your butts home!” He then chased them all down the street as I was standing in the driveway smiling and feeling relieved watching all those kids run for their lives back to their own street! My daddy was my protector.
God is your protector too because he is your Daddy! We call Him Father. He looks out after us. There is no need to fear. Yes someone could shoot me tomorrow and end my life, or I could go swimming in Australia and some Great White Shark could decide that he likes “Southern Fried Fat Boy,” and it is quite possible that I could board a plane and some Middle East Terrorist could blow it up, but I know where I am going should any of that happen. I get to go live in Heaven where there is no pain, sorrow, suffering and tears. I get to be with Jesus Himself, and I get to see a lot of loved ones that have gone on before me. I also get to see John Wayne and Ronald Reagan too! You do too if you are a Christian so there is no reason to fear. Granted I am hoping I don’t have to go anytime soon because there is still a lot of work left to do on this earth and I want to see a lot more people saved. Like Marcella said, God has not brought you this far to abandon you now. The word of God says he will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) Fear is ugly! So my friends, when fear comes a knockin’ at your door don’t answer it!
2 Timothy 1:7 says God did not give us a spirit of fear but one of power, love and a sound mind.
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