23 Jul Let’s Be Fearless

In midst of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in addressing a nation facing the uncertainty of war against the Axis powers of Germany, Japan and Italy, told the American people, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”

There were countless scenarios playing out in people’s minds regarding what another war of the nations might mean for our country, for their families, for their own individual lives, and fear was threatening to derail the “American way of life.” Many people wanted to just hide out in bunkers. President Roosevelt knew that denying that fear was foolishness. The only way to lead our country to a place of resolve, determination and courage to do what he felt was needed was to remind people that though their fear was real, there was still something more important at stake than their own self-preservation. The result was a strong war effort involving sacrifice and commitment from everyone across the board, a war effort that would go on to defeat Nazi Germany and force Japan into a state of surrender.

Fear still grips many of us today. Maybe not for the same reasons as in the 1940s, though maybe not too different either, but the fear is very real for those who feel it. Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of inadequacy. Fear of not being all that we feel we could, or should, be. And, in that fear we say and do things we now we shouldn’t say or do in an attempt to gain control and make our situations more predictable. We raise our voices. We shade the truth. We let pressure and frustration squeeze the joy right out of us. We get locked in and focused on those things that threaten us rather than taking responsibility for the things that actually need our attention. If we let them, those fears will send us heading for the bunker in an attempt to escape the pressure we feel life is throwing at us.

But, if we will remember, in midst of those fears, that there is something else more important than our fear, then I believe we can, and will, see God do exceedingly more than anything we could have ever hoped for. The question is, however, what is more important than our fear and our need to feel loved and secure? The answer to that question is the glory of God and seeing His Kingdom come on earth as in Heaven. It’s when our children know they matter more to us than the deadline at work. It’s when our spouses know that we desire to serve them in the midst of their difficulties rather than blaming them as the cause of our own. It’s when our neighbors feel loved and cared for by us. It’s when our friends know they’re not alone in their struggles because we know what’s going on in their lives without them having to even say a word about it.

Fear robs us of those things, and yet that is exactly how God has designed our lives to be lived. But, how do we find the courage to assess that God’s glory and God’s Kingdom are more important than our fear? We must obtain the knowledge of the love of Christ.

When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus, his desire was…

“that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

The only way to have the courage we need in the midst of our fears is to be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, to know and understand that the King of the Universe, the most important Being in all existence, has looked you up and down and has determined that you are worth dying for. Jesus has declared that you are enough, that you are worthy of His affection, that you matter significantly to Him and His purpose for creation. When you can look to the cross and not just see a man dying for your sins, but also see your loving King paying the price to make you His own, then there is no pressure your boss can apply, no opinion your professor can render and no judgement the world can throw at you that can change the fact that Jesus, the King, has called you his own. And, when you know how unconditionally loved you are by Him, then you can freely and unconditionally love those God has entrusted to your care and leadership.

See, when they can’t take anything from you then you can give all you have to show them the love of this great King.

And that is why I want to encourage, even beseech, every man of Mosaic to be at this year’s Men’s Retreat. As men, husbands, fathers and sons, there are unique fears and pressures we face that threaten to send us looking for places to hide rather than imaging God to the people we love. If we don’t understand first what it means to be a King’s Man then we can never be the leader our wives, children, friends and neighbors need us to be. I want to challenge us, Mosaic men, to rally together at this year’s retreat to passionately seek our identity in Christ, lock arms in the midst of our battles, remind each other that there is indeed something more important than our own self-preservation and felt needs, and chase after the call to become the fearless leaders God has always purposed us to be.

Will you join me, men? Will you encourage your husbands, wives? Will you cheer on your friends, ladies?

I hope you will, because there is an enemy who seeks our surrender, but there’s a King who has already guaranteed our victory. Let’s go get it.

Brett