A Cause for Fear

With all that's been going on in the world, especially in the past 50-100 years, one might be thinking that, yes, there most certainly is a cause for fear! From a physical standpoint, anyway, worry & stress factor hugely in much of the danger, both real & perceived that is prevalent both in this country, and throughout all the nations that surround us! There is most definitely, physically speaking any, a veritable cause for fear in this crazy and mixed up world in which we live!

If you watch the world news as it is portrayed by the varied sources of media information ( or is that 'disinformation'? ) on a daily basis, or if you watch movies such as Harrison Ford's 'Clear and Present Danger', and television shows such as NCIS ( which, admittedly, I've been watching lately ), you might realize that there is much in this world that is not as it should be, and much else that should not be, as a result of the unnecessary evil, has become an almost necessary evil!

Even though we know that much of the information fed to us through these various sources for media outlets, including television & movies is probably not quite as insidious as 'they' would have us to believe, it is still probably fairly safe to say that much of this 'information' is based in reality! We know that there are evil people in this world, or at least people that have left their mark for evil on this world ( Hitler, Pol Pot, etc. come to mind ). There is no denying their legacy, and the ( false ) dynasty of evil that, thanks to them and those like them, is still prevalent in this crazy & mixed up world!

'This is Our Father's World'! This phrase, borrowed from the title of the slightly revised hymn, has a real Ring of Truth to it! Because of our skewed perception of Who and What God is, and how He Operates, most Christians, even, do not believe that this is our Father's world, and especially not that He Rules & Reigns, and makes His Power known through the evil that men do! The main reason for this mistake is a lack of Knowledge & Understanding of what is affectionately known, in a certain circles as 'The Story' ( also called 'the meta-narrative' ). Many Christians today believe that since the Life, Death & Resurrection of Jesus the Son of God, our Heavenly Father operates in a kinder, gentler manner than He did before. This is engendered by a summary reading and unnecessary separation of what we know as the Old & New Testaments!

Let me digress here a bit; many Christians & non-believers as well find it hard to reconcile what is seen as a petty, vindictive, even mean & horrible God in the Old Testament with the kinder gentler version that we read about in the New. Besides the fact that they, if they know the Scriptures at all, read them as separate Stories, rather than as one complete Story, many Christians seem to gloss over the fact that God destroyed those who were called by His Name ( excepting a Remnant ), turning over tables, and calling down the judgment of an Almighty & Vengeful God on the Evil that they had become ( I Thessalonians 1:8 ( Matthew 16:27, 26:64, etc. )! The significance of the Destruction of the Jewish Temple, and Final Dispersion of the Jewish people in 70AD is usually overlooked or downplayed by most Christians today, and because of this, the notion that God Himself was changed by the Revelation of His Son persists to this day!

There is no question, from a human standpoint, anyway, that all is not as it should be, at least according to the utopian worldview that has been held by most Christians & unbelievers for years! The Problem of Evil has been present with us since the beginning of time! Human beings of all shapes, sizes, and religions have the propensity for untold evil, and to varying degrees of success, they are able, either to staunch the flow, or unleash this untold evil on their neighbors!

Since we know, and most of us can personally attest to this fact, that there are untold evils happening everyday all around us, it is easy to lose our Focus on the unseen yet Evident Reality of Life in the Presence, and be held in the Prison of Fear by these Evils! Though the Evil that happens around us everyday is impossible to deny, by keeping our Focus stayed on the Presence of God, Ruling & Reigning through these Evils: we can work through this Fear, and through the Freedom we have in Christ, we, though concerned with the matters of Everyday Life ( as we should be ), can Live Without Fear, knowing that our Heavenly Father rules through, and in spite of, our Cause for Fear!

In conclusion; though for the unbeliever who does not enjoy the Blessedness of the Presence of God in their lives, there is much Cause for Fear; for the believer, though there is undoubtedly much cause for concern this Cause for Fear does not exist, because, as we've seen, 'This is Our Father's World' He Rules & Reigns according to His infinite Knowledge, Power, and Grace! Because His Knowledge, Power &; Grace is infinite, and ours only and ever finite ( limited ), we can only and ever trust to His Love & Purpose, 'for we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, who are the Called, according to His Purpose'!