Fear Not

Written by Jason Haines

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever in the Lord is safe.” -Proverbs 29:25 ESV

The other day I was speaking with one of my old friends, or brother from another mother, who was sending his condolences from my mother passing almost two months ago. Doesn’t seem like that long ago, but it has been. While we were talking, I told him that I had started to go to church and was trying to find my way through my walk with God. But we had to laugh, I told him believe it or not I wasn’t struck down before I walked in the door by the Lord, and he has accepted me into his flock. It feels good to say that because I always thought that I would never be accepted for what I had done, but in the back of my mind I wanted to go to Jesus and be with him.

But why did I really fear going to church? Was it really a fear or was it a misunderstanding of what church was really? I believe it was both because I had a fear, and that fear was that people would make fun of me for going to church. Why did I have that fear? Well, many times I would say something to friends and family about going to church and the first thing I would hear was a laugh and a, “why would you want to go do that,” or “those people are such hypocrites.” And while I will admit there are many hypocrites in church, who have been saved I may say, there are just as many outside the church who are not saved. So, what was I going to lose if I got to going to the church and learning from the word of God? From what I have seen and learned absolutely nothing at all, and I do not regret my decision.

?I have learned that I have nothing to fear but God. Why do I need to fear nothing but God? Well he will be our ultimate judge at the end and will allow us in. I also know that he is there watching, guiding, helping, and growing me and many others as Christians to live our lives in him. He has helped us all know we are not perfect and that we will all sin and have sinned. When we finally admit that we are sinners and will sin and need his help to be better and not sin we will also realize that we are not perfect. Perfectionism causes anxiety which causes us to worry and usually only depend on ourselves and not the help of God. I have chosen to have God help because I knew I couldn’t do it on my own.

I talked of my mother passing earlier and she taught us to do things on our own, no help, and only depend on ourselves. Be perfect. This was a bad thing in so many ways and created many bad thoughts in my mind because I thought so many people were worthless and didn’t deserve my help or a good word from me. I seen this not only in myself but in my siblings as well because we had all become bitter because others always seemed to get ahead and we were being left behind. When I moved away from Ohio and met my wife, I started to see so many things differently and my wife will tell you I have come a long way form when we first met. I used to hold bitterness, jealousy, and animosity towards so many others and today, and now with God’s help, I have broken a lot of those chains. I know I have a long way to go still but I know in God I will make it and be better with hard work. Thank you and today I do not fear death, but I fear God and only God.

I do not write these stories for anything other than to invite you to church with me and see the world from a different view. Regardless of whether we are in the same area or not, I invite you to church to maybe see things in a different light.