By Cynthia Bleuler Tucker
If we are to sum up the theme of the year 2020 in one word, that word would be” fear.” Fear of a disease that ravaged the globe. Fear of your loved ones getting sick. Fear of loss of income due to lockdowns. Here in the United States, fear and uncertainty in an election year.
In the August 2019 magazine, The Voice of the Martyrs, President Cole Richards wrote an article entitled “Overcoming the Fear That Hinders Our Obedience to Christ.” Little did he know, at that point, that 2020 would be a year in which fear would overtake the world as a deadly pandemic spread from continent to continent.
Here are some excerpts from this article:
“In both military and frontier missions work, I have felt moments of tremendous fear; when I was unexpectedly caught in life-threatening circumstances. This kind of fear is a normal part of our mental and physiological response to danger that heightens our awareness and prepares us for quick reaction. However, there is another, unhealthy kind of fear- an anxiety that saps our courage and leaves us unwilling to risk discomfort, pain, or loss. This kind of fear limits our willingness to follow Christ and is therefore an enemy of obedience to our Lord that must be defeated, eliminated, ‘cast out’ (1 John 4:18).”
Richards continues, “In serving, and serving with severely persecuted Christians for more than 20 years, I have found many Christians of strong faith have overcome debilitating fear to the point of putting it to death- they no longer struggle with it…The peace of Christ ,and not the fear of men or circumstances, rules in their hearts (Colossians 3:15) despite imprisonment, torture, and other agonizing circumstances. The only fear that remains is their awe and reverence of the one true almighty God we serve (Matthew 10:28).” (Richards, 2019)
In this article, Richards tells of how he and his wife would pray as they served in a country hostile to Christians. They would pray that God would help them put fear to death and become living sacrifices. Based on that article, I wrote a prayer to help me in the midst of fear and uncertainty.
Dear Lord, we pray that we will put fear to death and only be in awe of and reverence of you. The only one we need fear is You, for no one can stand against You. May we have freedom from fear, may we not give in to fear-even in times of unrest, uncertainty, even in our aging, the frailty of our flesh, our minds- change us from fearful to fearless.
Lord, we give You ourselves, our being, our family’s safety, health, dreams, future, health, financial security, comfort, and plans on the altar, in submission to your sovereignty. We pray we be living sacrifices so perfectly modeled by our Savior Jesus Christ,
“Who, being in very nature God,
Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
But made Himself nothing,
Being made in human likeness,
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
And became obedient to death-
Even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:6-8) NIV
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us and shedding His blood for us, we can be holy and acceptable to God. We thank You, Lord, for Your great mercy in sending Your perfect Son to redeem us, giving us the gifts of His holiness and purity.
“I appeal to you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12: 1-2 ESV
As living sacrifices, we do not wait for extraordinary circumstances to suddenly turn from selfish to selfless. No each ordinary day as we go about our duties and what challenges that God gives us that particular day- each day we give that day as an offering to You.
The Message paraphrase of Romans 12:1-2 is so illuminating and helpful:
Place Your Life Before God
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday ordinary life- your sleeping, going-to -work, and walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit in to it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention to God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings out the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
We pray, Lord, that we do not just accept what You bring in our lives, but that we passionately participate in what God is doing in our current situation, how He is working through us, transforming and renewing our minds. God uses His Word and the Holy Spirit to guide us and advise us.
We pray that we will examine our culture and weigh every trend, every political and philosophical thought and see how it holds up to God’s wisdom and eternal truth.
Lastly, Lord, let us not in hubris and pride think we can will ourselves to be fearless, to will ourselves to be living sacrifices, to will ourselves to transform minds- only through Your Spirit and Your help is this possible.
Each morning, let us declare:
Villa Paula de Sarmiento Put Fear to Death
We are Your Living Sacrifice
Richards,C 2019, ‘Overcoming the Fear That Hinders Our Obedience to Christ’, Voice of the Martyrs, August, p. 1