🫪Being Fearful and Afraid🥶

  Fear is the passion of our nature which excites us to provide for our security, on the approach of evil.

Psalms 27:1 (KJV) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Two words jumped out at me when I read that verse. One was “fear” and the other was “afraid” so I looked into it. Fear can be that which might happen. When I was in my teenage years My Dad, my hero, the one I placed trust in was also a man whom I feared. Let me explain. My Dad was a man of his word if he asked you to do something he expected you to do what he asked.  Now I didn’t always do what he wanted me too and I never was too worried about it until I saw him. Then I became fearful of what he might do. Then there’s being afraid. If my dad ever said go to your room it wasn’t like getting to stick your nose in the corner for 10 minutes. That’s when fear left and being afraid came on. Now he might not come right in and punish me, why he might not come in for 15 minutes or so. Sometimes it seemed like an hour or more when it was only a short time. Questions began to rise up in my mind of how bad it’s going to be. What type of punishment? That is when fear and being afraid blended in together. I didn’t understand it all back then but my Dad knew some things I didn’t know at the time. One thing was if he didn’t teach his boys respect that no one else would. We learned very early to say “yes and no sir.” How well was his teaching? Well today I’m still showing respect to others. Like the young man I was speaking with on the phone. I was old enough to be his granddad and I was saying yes sir. Why? Because my dad required it as a way to show respect. Respect, discipline, honor, great teaching for a young boy and my dad had 3 of them and he made it his responsibility to teach us. The difference between fear and being afraid. Well fear can be over that which may or may not happen. Being afraid is that which will more than likely happen. The fear of flying is much different than hearing the pilot  say prepare to crash.  David says “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? David goes on to say

 “the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” The Apostle Paul said it this way.

Romans 8:36 (KJV) As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Sheep headed for the slaughter? Wow! Why was Paul writing about a slaughter? Could it be that the sheep don’t understand what’s about to happen? If that’s the case then there is no fear of being afraid. Paul goes on to say. Romans 8:38 (KJV) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

Romans 8:39 (KJV) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What can separate us from the God that promised eternal life? Paul says nothing.  Oh but you don’t know what I have done. That’s right I don’t and I’m sure it’s awful or you wouldn’t remember it. What I do know is that God knows all about it. If God is willing not to remember it so why don’t you just trust God? Psalms 103:12 (KJV) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.  God did what “removed” get busy trusting in God and stop being fearful and afraid.