Handling fear during tough cultural times
Pastors receive lots of questions. Most of the time, it’s related to “what does the bible say about… (fill in the blank).” Personally, I love those kind of inquiries. And honestly, every pastor should (barring the pastor is approachable - as all should be). Since March of 2020, our phones and emails have blown up with questions about the current state of affairs. I would lie if I left out that many of these concerns are inquired as to how it relates to what the Book of Revelation says about it. That’s just where people are. They liken everything regarding mayhem to the final Book of our 66-book canon.
But this sudden fascination is nothing new; it’s just new to me. I wasn’t a pastor on 9/11. I wasn’t a pastor during the Cuban missile crisis, the Gulf War or even the LA Riots after the Rodney King trial. I was alive, I just wasn’t in position to answer questions from a pastoral standpoint.
As a pastor now and I don’t know that it’s any easier than during those other mentioned moments of recent history. But I can tell you that I’m trying to discern the best that I can. Because during this pandemic and upheaval after George Floyd died, there has been a different set of anxieties that has accompanied our recent events. And this all has been set in motion by Satan himself. It’s called “Fear”. Fear propagates anxiety and restlessness. Fear brings on unnecessary heartache and stresses that actually affect each and every person who find themselves caught in its path. It’s real. It’s alive and well. And it honestly has no place in the life of a Christian.
Each person deals with things they are faced with differently. You can be a Christian and still have fear. That’s just fact. It doesn’t excuse it or give reason why you should have it, however. Because at our core, we should truly work out with God as to how we are reacting to brutal situations and scary scenarios. But this lends itself the old adage… “God is in control.” These words can be a wonderful comfort to people struggling with common phobias, natural fears, or even deep-seated terrors. The reminder that God is in control often brings great relief. But there are times when the words “God is in control” might make matters worse. A terrified Christian may have already wrestled with the fact that God is sovereign, and come to the misguided conclusion that God is punishing them, or worse, that God has abandoned them. This is a trick of the enemy and one that finds itself grounded in our past history. In fact, at the root of such fear and anxiety is not the issue of whether God is in control (a doctrine most Christians readily accept), but why God would allow Christians to feel uncertainty and dread. The awareness of God’s sovereignty may not be a source of relief in every case—only another source of doubt, frustration, and fear. Fear can do this to people, even Christians.
There are two points to consider about confronting our fears in the light of God’s sovereignty. The first is to consider those biblical passages (there are many) which tell us what it means for God to be “in control.” When we begin to have a grasp of God’s control over all things, we discover that nothing that comes to pass is random or outside the will of God. This information is given to remind us that nothing outside the will of God can happen to us.
Psalm 135:5-6 tells us, “For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth.” And in Proverbs, we read that God’s sovereignty extends even to seemingly incidental things: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” - Proverbs 16:33.
In Matthew 6:26, we are told that God knows when a sparrow falls from the sky, and if He cares for them, how much more does He care for us? Paul tells us that “for those who love God all things work together for good” in Romans 8:28, and James states in 1:13, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” He adds in verse 17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
God does not tempt us, nor cause us to be afraid. He gives us all good things, and He promises to turn everything (even our fears) to our good. This short list of biblical passages reminds us that any fear we may be facing can bring God glory, be turned by God to our ultimate good, and grant us needed reassurance when we are afraid. Scripture calms our fears by reminding us that God is our heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us even when we fear Him, or dread His sovereign purposes. He still loves us even when we are afraid that He doesn’t.
The second thing to consider is that if anyone believed in God’s absolute sovereignty, it was Jesus. The Gospels reveal that even though Jesus knew God’s purpose in advance and that the outcome to His suffering would be a glorious triumph over death and the grave, He nevertheless felt both fear and anxiety before the ordeal of the cross. In the resolution of Jesus’ fear and anxiety we can find great relief for our own.
In Matthew 26:36–38, we read “Jesus went … to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while I go over there and pray.’ And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.’” Jesus also said in verses 41-42 “the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” Then He prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’”
In Luke’s account, the extent of Jesus’ fear is revealed: “And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” - Luke 22:44.
Yet in the midst of Jesus’ anxiety in Gethsemane, He nevertheless trusted His Father to see Him through the horrific ordeal to come. Jesus may sweat drops of blood, but He drinks the cup of wrath to save us from our sins. Remarkably, Jesus is an example to us when we are afraid, and His suffering and death removes any guilt we may have for doubting God’s promises or for fearing His approach or purposes. Jesus died for our all sins, including all sinful fear.
I have slowly discovered that the concerns and fears of people are legit. They are. I take no one person’s issues lighter than another, because I know the point of emphasis for that person is unique to them. And each person that I meet, I pray only that I can get them on a “right track.” Additionally, I cannot help but be a little pragmatic when it comes to the array of problems that I hear. Because ultimately, the problems are worse the further away from the Word of God that people remain. It’s that simple. When we aren’t partaking in consistent reading of the breathed words of our Heavenly Father, we get more reliant upon ourselves… and that’s not a good place to be.
Along the way of my life as a pastor, I have certainly been able to step back and realize something very important… that the pulpit is not a place for me to pander to the stresses of the day. May I refer to them as necessary? Of course! That’s just what pastors will do when they’re trying to help the congregation understand just how the message relates to them (because sometimes it has to be pointed out in order to be noticed). But I refuse to compromise the pulpit with answering these direct fears. I choose not to preach on a topical series with sprinkles of Scripture in an effort to comfort the fears of people because I think that’s what they want. The Word of God is life changing. It needs to be let out of its cage like a lion. It just does. And when we just stick to a plan in which the Holy Spirit has led my heart months before – it never ceases to amaze me just how it relates each week to issues that are already happening. When I step back and see this in action – I just smile, shake my head and say out loud, “Father, you are something else!” Because as a human, I’m blown away by how our Triune God puts this all together in perfect harmony – perfect relatable harmony – in a way that can only be done by our Sovereign God.
And this is why I believe in Expository Preaching. For those who don’t know, it is a form of preaching that details the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. It explains what the Bible means by what it says. Exegesis is technical and grammatical exposition, a careful drawing out of the exact meaning of a passage in its original context. It’s just a perfect way to show people the Word of God in its entirety with no frills. And for some reason… it was almost a lost art. But it’s making quite a comeback and I have a gut feeling it’s because we’re nearing the end of humanity and God is pouring His love out onto the church of believers. People have grown tired of the “show” that has become much of the modern church over the past couple of decades. People have grown weary and they just long to hear the Word of God – presented as it is. This helps the hearer understand just what they are reading and brings them to an understanding that the Word is more than relatable in today’s modern era… it’s perfect for it!
I share this because I believe biblically direct sermons give us large doses of God’s Word and that, in and of itself, should be our starting point to a life without the fears of yesterday. Fear and anxiety are not necessarily sin—that Jesus was anxious before His suffering upon the cross proves this to be the case. Fear of pain or danger is quite natural. But we must not “settle” into a place of fear. That’s where the world, in its ever-present state, is at and where it’s going to stay. We must instead turn to our Savior, who can and will work through every single issue that we have… if we just ask Him!
Hebrews 4:14-16 – “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Saints, we have a great high priest, who never sleeps nor slumbers, and who knows what it is like for us to experience fear and anxiety. It is Jesus to whom we pray when we are afraid, and it is Jesus who prays for us, even as we pray to Him.
Pastor Patrick Garlock
