SILVER PLATTERS AND SILVER SPOONS - THE OPPOSITE SPIRIT SERIES
Faith is not the opposite of fear.
Courage is not the opposite of fear.
There is only one thing that trumps fear, every time, all time, bigger, better, faster, more powerful.
Have you ever wondered in your prayer and petition for the miraculous, whether or not you’re big enough to contain the blessing you’re asking for? Heaven’s silver platter provision comes not without a demand for stewardship.
When I finally gave away worldly dating and prayed for a Godly man, God was faithful. I became quickly aware that to steward this blessing meant I would have to fight. Fight for purity, fight for honour, fight for submission. Almost two decades later I am still in a fight for my marriage.
When they told me I would not be able to have children, my 19-year-old self cried out to God for healing, and He was faithful – miraculously faithful. Now with four children in my care I have realised that this is perhaps the biggest fight of all time – a fight for their moral integrity, a fight for their character, a fight for the Spiritual reality around their everyday experiences.
Yes! There are Heavenly silver platter deliveries granted us, but not without a call to stewardship and arms. Often, that fight is fearsome, riddled with question and clouded by doubt.
Joshua knew what it meant to fight for a promise. (Joshua 1: 1-9) I find it remarkable that God told Joshua, “Look I am giving you the land that I swore to your forefathers”, but they still had to go in, conquer the land, subdue the inhabitants, tear down idols and establish Kingdom culture in all those places where the promise waited for them.
I have realised that God’s version of “giving” is inextricably connected with our ability to “take hold of”. We have to “fight for” what God has “given” us.
It is one thing to conquer; it is another thing to rule.
We are told that many people who win the lottery file for bankruptcy within five years of winning, ending up worse off than before. This is because to rule is more difficult than to conquer.
To rule one’s self, to rule one’s circumstance, to rule as Kings in the land God wants to take us demands that we think and behave in new ways.
Joshua knew this better than anyone. As I read his story and become acquainted with him, I find Joshua to be a mild-tempered, kind-hearted man. Out of the two, I imagine Caleb as the fiery, give-me-my-mountain kind of guy. Not so for Joshua. He was meeker. And yet the quests God had him lead were ruthless. The things God required that he do were well beyond his personality and his preference.
There are going to be times when the call of God requires that we rise above our preferences and even our personalities.
Over and over, on almost countless occasions, God reminds Joshua to be brave and courageous, strong and very courageous, to not be afraid or discouraged. It truly is a theme of the dialogue between God and this leader.
It is the same message to us.
“There is a land of abundant blessing I have for you. It’s more wonderful than your wildest dreams. It’s better than anything your fathers and forefathers ever saw in their lifetime. Follow me and I’ll take you to it. When you get there be bold, go in and take it. Banish the old ways and establish My ways there. Don’t look back, don’t compromise and don’t be afraid. This is all you’ve prayed for and more. Take it, conquer it and rule it.”
God is clear about how to make the choices when we get there. He spelled it out to the generation previous to Joshua, through Moses.
Deuteronomy 30:15-16
15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
Every choice we make is boiled down to one of two outcomes:
leading to life, or
leading to death
Every single choice! Life or death? These choices determine our ability to rule in the land of blessing God delivers to us.
So why do so many Jesus-followers struggle to make the life-choices they know will lead them into the fullness of God’s promises for them? I believe it is found a few verses later. It is because they haven’t had a full revelation of love.
Deuteronomy 30:20
20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land.”
Love gives us the strength to choose well.
The opposite to fear is not faith, or courage or boldness. The opposite to fear is love. Love covers us and love emboldens us.
Many of us see God as a cosmic wet blanket waiting to spoil our fun. Some see Him sitting on a lofty throne with a rod in hand just waiting to discipline us when we step out of line. But this is simply not who He is.
God is love.
He loves you, and He loves me. He bleeds for us to live well and be blessed. He breaks when we sell ourselves short. His Word to us is not for harshness or regulation’s sake, but because He desires us to flourish.
Many of us struggle to break free because we have not fully allowed ourselves to be loved by Him. We have not fully looked Him in the face. We have not allowed ourselves to be fully seen and loved by Him – fully exposed and fully covered all at the same time. If we had, it would all be much different.
To look Him honestly and fully in the face is to be completely undone and reconstructed all in one moment. To be truly loved incites a response more powerful than anticipated. Indeed we can only love because He first loved us. And love is proven by action; both His and ours in reply.
If you are afraid, whether you are literally paralysed with fear or whether you are afraid of what making a Godly choice may cost you, can I encourage you to look Jesus fully in the face? Turn full frontal into His countenance. Lift your face and look Him straight in the eye. Everything changes in that place. His love changes everything.
Come at fear with an opposite spirit – love and obedience. This is the key to your life.
You can overcome fear through love and obedience.
1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
1 Peter 4:8 “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
1 John 4:19 “We love Him because He first loved us.”
