Fear!  What would it be like to live with NO FEAR whatsoever (except for the helpful internal-adrenaline- provision in case of real saber-tooth tiger threats)?

I asked my 8th grade Logic class on Thursday – “What is the absolute worst act of evil ever committed in the history of the world?”

The fifth student’s answer was correct!  – the murder of the son of God.

But if THAT crime was planned by God before the creation of the universe, and it was meant for our good, then what does logic say about all the lesser horrid acts/ disasters/ mistakes and problems?

Those Roman logicians called this the ‘a fortiori’ argument – reasoning from the greater to the lesser.

I think this logic is the answer to my very-well-practiced groove of fear and anxiety. A good friend knows that I struggle with the sin of unbelief when I fear for the road safety of my kids.  (She has her own inner battles of unbelief and fear – just not this particular one).

 In a further aside, since it is Mother’s Day, I will tell you, that this FEAR ABOUT ROAD SAFETY is the one negative bad habit I learned from my mother.  Kids DO absorb our outlook and patterns of thinking and reacting.

Here’s how this thinking goes:

·         God is sovereign over every molecule in the universe

·         God planned the crucifixion for His good purposes

·         Good came out of it then and keeps ensuing

·         The lesser bad stuff I could potentially fear is also planned by God for my/our ultimate good  (this doesn’t make evil/mistakes/ calamities any less  grievous or painful when they happen)

·         Eventual good for me and others is the purpose of everything that happens

·         What God means for good comes WITH His loving care and control of every detail

·         Therefore, if God promises that He will withhold NO good thing from me, then what happens, no matter HOW it comes packaged, is meant to be the vehicle of good.  (I DO NOT mean that cruelty, disabilities and disease, theft, floods, indifference or my own sin, and a thousand other bad things are good in themselves)

Do I know and understand all the purposes of God?  No, that is risible to even think a human would or could?  But there are plenty of verses in the Bible to assure me that God is good and trustworthy AND in control of everything.

Pastor and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul has said, “There is no maverick molecule if God is sovereign.” If He cannot control the tiniest bits of the universe, then we cannot trust Him to keep His word. The Lord vowed to bring Abraham’s sons out of Egypt (Gen. 15:12–16), but if Joseph was not the object of his father’s favoritism, his brothers would not have envied him. If they had not envied him, they would not have sold him to the Ishmaelites, Israel would not have gone into Egypt, and God could not have kept His promise to the patriarch (37–50).

So back to my fears:  I’m starting to think through the irrationality of fearing anything.  Fear and anxiety come from the mistaken double notion that

a)   I can control anything

b)   I know what is best for me and you.

In the next few days and weeks as God supplies me with plenty of practice in which to ‘test-ride’ this truth, I’ll collect some thoughts and write about them soon.

What about you?  How do YOU deal with the sin of fear and worry?

1 Peter 4:19

So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.