#21 Of Fear & Faith 3/10/10

#21   “Keep your lamp trimmed and burning….”                                

                                                Of Fear and Faith

          Kathy[1] gathers her family about her to let them know that cancer has once again begun its’ destructive growth within her. Believer’s all, they rally around her and she soldiers through this round of treatments.

          Bob and Sally[2] sit at the kitchen table with a pile of bills that dwarf their resources. They want to be good examples for their children but have unanswered prayers about their own future.

          Roy and Laura clasp hands and plead with God to somehow speak to their daughter. Her life didn’t turn out like they’d planned and they are no longer on the best of terms. [3]

          We’ll call him Rick [4], just lost a job he thought was God’s will for him and now has to push the reset button on his career.

          One thread that winds itself through all these real situations is a rock solid belief in God’s perfect will and, yet, a genuine fear of what may lie ahead. How can this be?  TV preachers spout platitudes about how “faith cancels fear” and “you can’t have faith and fear at the same time”!  Are these charlatans right in this respect? 

          When financial ruin came knocking on our door thirty years ago, Nancy and I used to argue about this. She’d confidently speak her faith in the goodness of God:

Psalm 37:25 (King James Version)  ²⁵ I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Then I would angrily retort, “I may have faith but I still have to pull my pants on and get to work. You tell me what I do differently just ‘cause I have faith”. It was not one of my best husband moments but it was an honest one because I could not reconcile faith and fear being in the same room.  The lesson inside another, bigger lesson in Mark9:14-32 helped me in these times of conflict. Verses 21-24 tell of a father who believes enough to petition the Rabbi on his son’s behalf but still has unbelief, doubts, and fears. 

^21-22He asked the boy's father, "How long has this been going on?"

   "Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!"

 ²³Jesus said, "If? There are no 'ifs' among believers. Anything can happen."

 ²⁴No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, "Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!"

                Because of this man in Mark’s gospel, I can confidently come to the throne and plead for help even if I have fears and doubts.  My dad had an assurance found in Hebrews 4 he shared with the family many times:

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,^[e] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Another one was Job 13:  ¹⁵Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:” as a clear statement of faith in the middle of dark times. I did not understand how profound dad was until my adult-sized crises came along.  Laying in a hospital room after yet another heart surgery my own anthem of faith became Psalms 119:71-72

⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted
       so that I might learn your decrees.

⁷² The law from your mouth is more precious to me
       than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

These hospital stays have been the darkest hours in my life to date but this Psalm always brings me back on course in my confidence in him.

          My wife Nancy has another statement of faith found In Jeremiah 29 that she reminds me of when I get all out of shape worrying about one thing or another:

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you," declares the LORD,

She may only be 4’10 ½” [and don’t you dare forget the ½] but she is a giant of faith. Another of her favorites is:

Psalm 46 (New International Version)

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
       an ever-present help in trouble.

² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
       and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³ though its waters roar and foam
       and the mountains quake with their surging.
       Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
       the holy place where the Most High dwells.

⁵ God is within her, she will not fall;
       God will help her at break of day.

⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
       he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us;
       the God of Jacob is our fortress.
       Selah

⁸ Come and see the works of the LORD,
       the desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹ He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
       he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
       he burns the shields ^[b] with fire.

¹⁰ "Be still, and know that I am God;
       I will be exalted among the nations,
       I will be exalted in the earth."

¹¹ The LORD Almighty is with us;
       the God of Jacob is our fortress.
       Selah

          Okay, God’s calls to faith and trust in him are overwhelming so let us stipulate to the verity of scripture [big of us, huh] but let’s also admit our humanity and go back to my argument with Nancy thirty years ago.  Let’s all yell in unison, “Okay, so I have faith; what do I do now that is so different? I still have to put on my pants and [you fill in the blank]!”  Since these tomes do not presume to have the answers they are just about what is buggin’ me and a hope a couple folks get some help as well. No shining example even if I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express J and my wife is a great woman of faith, I want to push on.

          This conflict between living faith and having fears has been especially heavy on my mind since the four families above have been on my list.  Maybe #19 I get knocked down but I get up again was a precursor because it spoke to taking steps in faith [and maybe stubborn commitment] in the face of adversity.  Recently a song from the grim days of slavery was on XM so I searched Youtube.com for another performance. It seems it has become a popular song for many performers.

Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning

Keep your lamp trimmed and burnin
Keep your lamp trimmed and burnin

Keep your lamp trimmed and burnin

See what my lord has done

Troubles and trials are almost over

Troubles and trials are almost over

Troubles and trials are almost over

See what my lord has done

Heaven's journey is almost over
Heaven's journey is almost over

Heaven's journey is almost over

See what my lord has done

Brother don't you worry
Don't you worry
Don't you worry
See what my lord has done

Two thousand years have come and gone
Two thousand years have come and gone

Two thousand years have come and gone

See what my lord has done

Sister don't stop prayin
Sister don't stop prayin
Sister don't stop prayin
See what my lord has done.

Many are gone but not forgotten

Many are gone but not forgotten

Many are gone but not forgotten
See what my lord has done

Keep your lamp trimmed and burning
Keep your lamp trimmed and burning

Keep your lamp trimmed and burning
See what my lord has done

Those weary, burdened souls found a source strength, resolve in the parable in Mark 25  and it leaves little doubt to the message of their song. Perseverance and preparedness is faith in living flesh. Keeping your light shining brightly [Matt 5: 14-16], living as He would have you, in the middle of crippling fears and dark clouds of doubt, is perhaps the most powerful testimony of faith we can present to the world.

 Now, where did I put my pants…..?

This is part of a numbered series of writings that began with the financial meltdown in October 2008.  If you wish to receive the entire series or no longer wish to be copied, contact chiefcredit@tcfbank.com

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[1] Yes, Kathy ‘s situation is real even if her name isn’t so remember her in your prayers.

[2] Once again, false names and real needs so remember them as you petition the Almighty.

[3] Yep, they are real too [even if their names are false] and their situation is all too common

[4] Again, he is a real man that needs your prayer for a job right now.