Never Fear

After reading a post from Dr. Elmer Towns newsletter this week, he referred to the concept of fasting in dealing with fear. I also wanted to share a takeaway I got from this story. The writing below is from his newsletter. I had to edit some of the newsletter for space sake. Here is what he shared in part.

Sometimes you fast because you are scared . . . scared silly . . . scared out of your wits.  You feel like you’re running, but a death shadow is catching up with you . . . a death shadow is biting at your heels . . . surely a death shadow will pounce upon you, and then you’ll die. I remember watching one of the National Geographic television programs of a tiger chasing down an antelope.  The antelope ran frantically, cutting sharply to the right; then to the left to elude the tiger.  The faster antelope should have overrun the tiger, but each time the antelope cut sharply, the tiger quickly recovered its steps to go bounding after the antelope.  As I watched, I kept hoping and praying that the antelope would escape; each time the antelope put a little distance between it and the predator; I breathed a little sigh of relief.  But the antelope didn’t escape.  Finally with one gigantic leap, the antelope was knocked to the ground, and before it could regain its feet, the powerful jaws of the tiger were locked in a death grip on the neck of the antelope. When the antelope was eventually caught, I thought my emotions would end.  But no!  The TV camera zoomed in on the eyes of the antelope.  I saw fear . . . panic . . . approaching death.  The tiger kept resetting its teeth grips into the neck of the antelope.  Now it was impossible to run away, the antelope was still alive, but dying, it had a death wound. 

Do you ever feel like an antelope being pursued by your enemy?  Is your enemy catching up?  Psalm 23 describes believers as sheep, and the Lord is our Shepherd.  Of all the animals, sheep are the most vulnerable to danger because they don’t know how to take care of themselves.  And if sheep wanted to take care of themselves, they couldn’t; because sheep have no weapons of defense.  Sheep are defenseless to protect themselves; they depend on a shepherd for protection from danger. What’s scaring you today?  Maybe your problem is not your problem.  Many things that frighten us never happen, and our greatest fear is fear itself.  Are you scared of shadows?  The Psalmist said he would not be afraid of death shadows when walking through dark valleys.  We are afraid of what might happen.   

We let shadows scare us. What shadow is stealing joy from your life?  Is it a shadow of financial ruin, because you’re afraid you won’t have enough money when you retire?  Or maybe can’t pay the first of the month bills.  Some put all their money in a Keogh Fund, or in a retirement account; then whoosh, an unplanned medical emergency blows it all away.  Maybe the shadow that scares you is a little nagging pain that you think might be cancer. Then we feel the hot breath of death shadows on the back of our neck, and we think we only have moments to live. We think that when we take our heads from under the cover, the death shadow will jump on us.  

If the shadow is near, we know that death is right behind it.  Remember God’s invitation, “Call unto me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee” (Psalm 50:15). So when shadows scare you, take time to fast and seek God’s presence.

A very timely message for those who fear what is ahead in life and written by a man who has faced death in the eye over the last several years. Sometimes it is wise to hear from someone who has been there and how they reacted to the danger and faced it bravely without fear!