FREE FROM FEAR

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.  But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.  (2 Thessalonians 3:1-3)

Satan is a roaring lion, seeking to devour us (1 Pet.5:8).  Can you imagine what it would be like to walk some wilderness path and hear the bone-chilling roar of a lion?  If you are in ministry, you have been confronted with this terror.  It may have been the snarl of a powerbroker in the church!  Lions sometimes masquerade as lambs.  The Devil does not always have to show up himself.  He is not omnipresent, but he has many assistants to aid his nefarious schemes.  Fright can lead to flight—and if I back down from the Word of God and compromise out of cowardice, then Satan has accomplished his purpose.  What army will remain in the fight if their general runs away?

The writer of Proverbs says that, “The fear of man brings a snare.”  (Prov.29:25a)  Are we imprisoned by the fetters of fear?  Each iron link is forged on the threat of what might be: we could lose our job; we could lose the financial support of some large contributor; we could have slander spread through the community—and on and on. 

Even such a stalwart servant as Paul knew the power of this temptation.  He had heard the lion’s roar, and had the wounds of his claws on his body.  The Apostle knew that he would not stand if he depended on his own strength.  He entreats the people of God to pray for him.  Let us humbly admit our frailty and beg the church to cry out to God on our behalf.  They expect us to pray for them—shall we not expect them to pray for us? 

He does not want the Word of God to be halted, or even hindered.  He wants the sheer freedom to proclaim the truth without fear or favor.  It is not about the glory of the preacher, but for the glory of the message that he desires this.  Paul has seen what happens when truth is unleashed—the Thessalonians were examples of this transforming power—and now he longs to see it in others.  We say we believe in the authority of God’s Word, but do we believe in the sufficiency of it?

There are unreasonable and unrighteous men.  The truth of the message is rejected because they have given themselves over to error—and are unreasonable—and they have surrendered to evil—and are unrighteous.  Their mind does not want to hear the truth because their thinking is warped, and their hearts do not want to heed the truth because their desires are wicked.  The world is full of them—and increasingly hostile toward truth.  Alas, some of these lions have joined our churches!  They may be Sunday School teachers, deacons, mission group ladies—they have many faces—but the same roar!

Never forget man of God, that God is faithful!  Men will fail us.  They may seek to frighten us.  We can be faithful and fearless because God is faithful to ground us and guard us.  May the Word of God be unfettered and unleashed from our pulpits!