Fear or Faith (Psalm 145)

Fear is a powerful motivator.

It is used by many people to manipulate, and especially seems to be effective at making the sale, getting the vote, or getting a donation.

For example:

"Act now or you will miss out on this limited time offer"

"Give money now or the _________ (gays, abortionists, liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, evolutionists, christians) will get ahold of your children."

"If we don't act now then the _________ (gays, abortionists, liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, evolutionists, christians) conspiracy will take over the country and make it illegal to be _________ (gays, abortionists, liberals, conservatives, democrats, republicans, evolutionists, christians).

Unfortunately, fear also polarizes and divides. Its energy is largely negative, and while it is at time appropriate and helpful, it is quite often de-habilitating and destructive.

That is why God's word is so encouraging:

Psalm 145:10 All your works praise you, LORD;

 your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom

 and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts

 and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

 and your dominion endures through all generations.

I understand that verse to mean that God’s Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom… this is significant in that it is a major dose of reality when facing a fearful future.

When I live in troubling and confusing times I can either respond out of faith or fear…

Will we let our fear get the best of us causing us to polarize, marginalize, and start calling people names and calling out conspiracies... or will we respond out of faith in the eternal control of God over his universe.

Psalm 145:13 is clear how we need to respond: God's control endures from generation to generation and we can trust him to take better care of the universe than we can.

If God is taking care of things, then, although we still need to do our part, we do not need to worry.

Rather than be afraid of the unknown future, we put our faith in the God who has created and revealed himself to humankind, and who continues to love us in spite of all that we do to hurt each other.

As 1 John 4:18 points out, perfect love drives out fear.