The Lord said to Moses, "Why are you crying out for help? Tell the people to move forward. Lift up your walking stick and hold it out over the sea. The water will divide, and the Israelites will be able to walk through the sea on dry ground……. ….The angel of God, who had been in front of the army of Israel, moved and went to the rear. The pillar of cloud also moved until it was between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The cloud made it dark for the Egyptians, but gave light to the people of Israel, and so the armies could not come near each other all night. (verses 15-20).
Fear is a human response that is part of every person or simply put it is part of who we are. One day at a busy International airport flight number 719 to Wagadugu is called, the passengers are seated, and waiting for the pilots to show up so they can get under way. The pilot and co-pilot finally appear in the back of the plane, and begin walking to the cockpit through the centre aisle.
The pilot is using a white cane, bumping into passengers right and left as he stumbles down the aisle, and the co-pilot is using a guide dog. Both have their eyes covered with huge sunglasses. Both appear to be blind. At first, the passengers do not react; thinking that it must be some sort of practical joke.
However, after a few minutes, the engines start revving and the airplane starts moving down the runway. The passengers look at each other with some uneasiness, whispering among themselves and looking desperately to the flight attendants for reassurance. Then the airplane starts accelerating rapidly and people begin panicking.
The Catholic passengers pulled out their rosaries begin praying, the evangelicals take out their Bibles begin to read and pray. And a handfull of Muslims haul out their Q’uran and as the plane gets closer and closer to the end of the runway, the voices are becoming more and more hysterical. Finally, when the airplane was almost at the end of the runway and the screaming was the loudest, the airplane lifts off and is airborne.
Up in the cockpit, the blind co-pilot breathes a sigh of relief and says to the blind pilot, "You know, one of these days the passengers aren’t going to scream, and you’re gonna kill us all!"
There are many things that strike fear in our hearts. The news that our workplace is downsizing and our department has been abolished, the loss of work and income causes fear. The thought that in five years this congregation might be in serious situation due to decline in membership strike fear in our hearts. Some time ago a woman told me how much nerve it took her to leave her home. She couldn’t go near anyone wearing perfume, deodorant, aftershave etc. for fear of a severe allergic reaction. Lots of people are afraid of heights; some are afraid of closed doors; some people are afraid of spiders, and snakes; others are afraid of flying in a plane.
If we think hard, and long enough about the world situation, we have every reason to be afraid. Since September 11 incident, our world has been put on alert that this kind of attack could happen anywhere. Fear shrouds our planet. Security has been increased for fear that something like this might happen in our own backyard.
The Israelis and Palestinians live in constant fear of suicide bomb attacks, or random shootings that kill and maim. The people in Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Mali and others counties are afraid of what the future might bring because of shortage of food.
Every now and then, there is heightened fear that India and Pakistan will start using nuclear weapons. Everywhere people are afraid. We are afraid to leave our houses unlocked. We are afraid to walk alone at night.
Now going back to Hebrew text for the day, everything had been going so well for the Israelites. After God had preserved them from the angel death that passed over Egypt. God had defeated the Egyptians and here they were marching out boldly en route to the Promised Land.
But then they came to the Red Sea, there was water in every direction. How would they get across? Has Moses made a mistake? And no sooner have they set up camp and look up and there on the horizon is the dust storm kicked up by the Egyptian army. Here they are, caught between the Egyptian army on one side and the sea on the other, with no way out. No options. They were trapped.
Israel’s immediate response was fear. In terror they cried out, "Weren't there any graves in Egypt? Did you have to bring us out here in the desert to die? Look what you have done by bringing us out of Egypt! Didn't we tell you before we left that this would happen? We told you to leave us alone and let us go on being slaves of the Egyptians. It would be better to be slaves there than to die here in the desert." (Exodus 14:11-12).
This wouldn’t be the last time fear would cause them to distort the truth, to be ruled by doubt rather than faith. Fear had a numbing and paralyzing effect –for Fear Is The Dark Room Where We Develop Our Negatives. They forgot all that God had just done for them in freeing them from slavery. They forgot about God's continual presence - a thick cloud during the day and a flaming fire at night. All they felt was the fear! fear!! fear!!! of being slaughtered by the Egyptians.
Isn’t that what happens when we become afraid.
We know God.
We know his promise to always be our strength and support in times of trouble.
We know that God loves us and is committed to us – after all didn’t he send his Son to die for us.
We know that even though God never promises to eliminate all the problems in our lives, he will always look out for us.
But when fear comes along, suddenly all of that goes out the window. We are anxious, depressed, terrified, worried, panicky, negative – you all know what I mean. The situation in the world at the moment gives us every reason to be afraid. Perhaps we might be afraid, like the Israelites, that God hasn’t noticed our predicament – that God has more important things to worry about than our situation.
While the people panicked, Moses stood like a rock. "Don't be afraid! Stand your ground, and you will see what the Lord will do to save you today; you will never see these Egyptians again." As we know, God blocked the Egyptian army from attacking during the night and the next morning parted the sea for them and they walked across to the other side to safety.
The Lord can be trusted - he is in control. Sometimes we had to fight to win a battle but not today. Today we need only keep still. Be still and know that God is God. We know, that’s the hardest thing for us to do, to remain still. Our strength, our mind, our skills are of no particular use. We just have to sit back and wait patiently for God to act, keeping in mind that God is never far away.
The Israelites were nervous about their situation and likewise we are nervous about what is happening in our lives, our congregation – lack of funds, decline in membership etc. We don’t understand why God seems slow to act, but we do know that wars, terrorism, shooting, bombing, natural disasters, and everything that causes us grief are not punishment from God.
Jesus said that these things will continue right up until they day he returns. Those who love God will suffer along with those who don’t. He said, "You are going to hear the noise of battles close by and the news of battles far away; but do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere." (Matthew 24:6,7).
What can we do when fear grips our hearts?
Firstly, get to know what kind of God we have. He is gracious, he is merciful, loving and faithful. In spite of our lack of faith and whining, God still loves us. We don’t deserve it but he loves us anyways and will always stand by us. We see just how powerful his love for us when we look at the cross and see what Jesus has done for us.
Get to know God as the king and ruler of the universe. Parting the sea to save the Israelites, saving Daniel from the lions or Jonah from the belly of the big fish, springing Peter from jail, or saving Paul from a shipwreck were all a piece of cake for God. Helping us when we are afraid is just as easy. Secondly, get to know character of God and his promises and trust that he will stick by what he says. Memorize and trust words like these:
Be assured that God keeps his promises; that he is with us, even in the worst possible situation imaginable on this earth.
Thirdly, we must realize that there are too many times when our human attempts to be bold are not sufficient. It’s then we need the Holy Spirit to help us – to forgive us for our lack of faith, to support us while we tremble in fear and to help us get through. The Holt Spirit even takes our cries of fear to God and pleads on our behalf (Rom 8:26-27).
Fourthly, pray! pray!! for peace in our world. Pray for our world leaders as they make decisions that will have far reaching consequences. Pray for an end to the trouble that causes us to fear. Ask God to intervene in the rampage of injustices, inhumane, poverty in our world and bring peace.
Let us all pray for faith, for boldness and courage when we are afraid, and pray that in the end God would take us from the troubles of this world into our eternal rest where there will be no more fear. ‘Perfect love casts out all fears.’ With God by our side, whether we realize God is there or not, what is there to be afraid of?
Fear Is The Dark Room Where We Develop Our Negatives.
When fear is near, God is even nearer.
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
September 11, 2005