“Do not fear…” is found regularly throughout Scripture. There are claims that it’s in there 365 times, so once for every day of the year. Some say it’s in there 366 times so that Leap Year is covered as well. Some claim more, some claim less. And that is not the question that will be answered here today. What I can say with confidence, however, is that it’s in there a lot.
We see that phrase in a number of different contexts, but two pop up quite often: when God’s people are facing an army and when the Angel of the Lord shows up. If we look at these contexts logically, with human eyes, for just a second, fear makes sense. War is scary no matter which side you’re on. And often these words were spoken when the Israelites were the underdogs. Have you ever paid attention to descriptions of angels in Scripture? Check out this post on Imgur that shows a handful of illustrations of angels based on the descriptions found in the Bible. Imagine one of those guys showing up in your room at night.
“Do not fear…”
So, what tone of voice do you read that in? Is it a command? Many believe that it is. Many read these passages as a reminder that we are to have faith when faced with scary circumstances. So, what does that mean if we’re still afraid? If this is a command, does continuing to be afraid make us disobedient? This seems problematic to me for a number of reasons, but chief of which is that command doesn’t address fear. More on that in a minute.
When I read these passages, I hear something different. I hear invitation. “You don’t have to be afraid.” So many of these passages follow up that phrase with “…for I am with you.” I hear a Father’s voice. I hear reassurance.
Noah’s been talking a lot lately about tornadoes (aka tormadoes). When they’re really on his mind, he doesn’t want to play outside. He starts to ask us questions about our house and what a tornado would do to it. And so I command him to stop it. Stop being scared. You’re fine, we’re here. There’s no reason to be afraid, we’ll take care of you, so stop it. (I like to take the Bob Newhart approach to parenting.)
Obviously, this is not how I address his fear. I listen to him. I answer his questions. And I remind him that our number one job is to keep him safe, so he doesn’t have to be afraid. We will take care of him if there’s a tornado around. If you look back, you’ll see that I’m essentially saying the same thing in both places (minus the “stop it.”) But the tone is very different. And that’s what can be problematic about Scripture. The words are on the page and we create the tone. Yes, the Holy Spirit is involved in this process. But so is our own baggage.
Maybe this feels clear cut when I’m talking about Noah’s fear. Of course I would never command him. But how do you speak to yourself in your fear? Are you reassuring? Do you try to command it out of you? What tone do you use?
I often have clients in my office who are struggling with fear. And, often, they are struggling with guilt on top of that. They should know better? Why can’t they just have faith? Why can’t I trust the Lord with this? Isn’t being afraid enough to deal with on its own without feeling guilty on top of it?
In the future, I’ll do a whole post about the amygdala, the fight/flight/freeze response and what is happening on a neurological level when we’re afraid. For now, let me just say this: your fear does not speak the language of logic and reasoning. And it certainly doesn’t respond to command, not in a lasting way. This is just what is true about how we are made and how we function. And I believe that the God who created us is aware of how we function. I actually believe that he designed us to function in this way. And so I don’t believe he would command us not to fear. Because fear doesn’t respond to command.
If we’re commanded not to fear, over and over again in Scripture, and yet we continue to fear, that leaves us in disobedience. We’re not supposed to fear. And so if we fear, we are in disobedience. Not to mention, lacking faith.
But what if we’re allowed to fear? What if we are allowed to fear, but we don’t have to be afraid? Now that’s a different thing altogether.
