The Lie of Fear

John 8:42-47 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Things and situations are not always as they seem at first glance. This morning as I made my bed, I was startled when a furry object flew past me at eye level as I was leaning over to straighten the pillows. In the instant of this happening, my first thought was that some small creature was on my bed and attempting to jump behind the head of the bed. My heart raced as I ran an entire scenario in my head about this creature spending the night in my bed as I slept. YUK!

It took a moment to make sense of it all. I was semi-sleepy to begin with so logical thoughts took longer. My pup, Nikos, had slept with me rendering it very unlikely a creature of any size could be in the bed with us and not hit his radar. He does sleep deeply and even snores a little but a doggy nose never sleeps! I replayed the scene in my mind of straightening out the comforter, etc and, once in this diagnostic mindset and ‘seeing’ it in slow motion I realized it was a tuft of red fur stirred by my actions and the motion of the fans going in my room. I felt a little silly letting my emotions get away with me over a small piece of fur. You see, my cousin recently visited me and we toured antique shops where she bought a beautiful pillow she said absolutely belonged on my bed. It is trimmed along the edges with red fur. While the pillow itself is sturdy, the fur isn’t and, if pulled on, will come loose. That was my morning monster, a harmless piece of fur.

I repeat, ‘things and situations are not always as they seem at first glance.’

We tend to respond to first impressions and/or assumptions and/or jerk-knee reactions, much like my tuft of fur. Sadly, we more often than not, lean toward the negative possibilities. Notice how my first startled assumption was of a critter in my bed….ewwww. Even as I sit here, I wonder how I could have changed my reaction to one of simple curiosity rather than negative expectation.  Bottom line is we fear what we do not understand, so when our eyes tell us something our finite minds struggles to grasp, we assume the worse.

In the scripture above, Jesus was dealing with a lot of skeptical people. They questioned His every word and declared His works to be of the devil. They not only did not believe what they saw with their own eyes, they rejected what they heard from His very lips. “Poor unenlightened people”, we might say from our perspective. Yet, are we any different?

We tremble at the thought of terrorism, death, financial struggles but God’s Word says, “…He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Psalm 91:4-8 NLT

The world around us may be in complete chaos and trauma but…for the Believer who walks in faith and not by sight….  ‘things and situations are not always as they seem at first glance.’ The lies of the enemy and the world shrink in the light of truth that is Jesus.