People who live with fears and are controlled by the fears that they are afraid to face are slaves to their fears.
If we feel that our fears are overpowering then they can be the deciding factor in many choices that we make.
God tells us again and again not to have fears because He is there. This is a valuable lesson that I learned through my Christian walk. I learned that God is there and that I have nothing to fear from people, no matter how many or how big or how threatening.
The 23rd Psalm has always held a promise for me in it, fact for all of us. I see a God that will do much for someone who is trying hard to learn right from wrong (God needs people to know the difference so that we can teach other people how to be good people, and we can be an example of goodness wherever we go). It is a wonderful thought to walk through any valley, alleyway, road etc of danger and know that our God is there to protect us as we go about our business. We have the same loving protective God in the hills, valleys, villages, towns and cities.
In an old New Zealand book I have, a preacher was here in New Zealand during the 1980’s helping the native Maori people and teaching them of God. At this stage there were Maori wars amongst themselves and cannibalism which came from the sieges of that time. Once a very angry Maori warrior decided to kill the Preacher and he stood in the village waving a small axe over the preachers head threatening to kill him. The preacher stood his ground totally unarmed except his absolute faith in God’s protection. Eventually the angry Maori man went away frustrated, angry and emotionally defeated and he didn’t harm the preacher at all. The angry Maori man got into trouble from his own people for his violent threats and actions.
We shouldn’t test God and get into foolish situations, but we should do what we must for the good of others. And we should go where God leads us even if we are nervous about the outcome. God knows what is best for us and we must have faith in that love and protection from God.
I was tested one day when a young martial artist came over to me in the evening to threaten me as I was using my cell phone at the side of the road. I had vowed to God that I was not wanting to do violence to anyone and that I preferred to follow the ways of Jesus. I wanted to learn more and more of honesty, forgiveness, peace and love.
Now this young man was known in town for his fighting and he had been seriously mis-lead by another person who had a mental illness and many fears. He knew this person before their mental problems and so it appears that he assumed that this person was alright in that way. Anyway he stopped his little red car and I had already been threatened by this guy before from his car as he drove past me. This was the first time that he was obviously going to get out of the car. I thought “Wow, this is it! Now I get to test my theory that God will really protect me as long as I show total commitment and faith in God.”
I have been practising martial arts for some years now and it is a great challenge to stand firm with a belief in God and not wanting to do harm to anyone, even and aggressor while also having the ability to protect oneself, but not doing so. It kind of reminds me of the rich man who would not sell his goods and follow Jesus. If he had enough faith in Jesus he would have found more riches that would have filled his heart with love and joy. I had to turn away from the aggressive teachings that I had learned before and rely on God totally and faithfully, and by doing this I learned that my God loves and cares enough for me to not allow me to be hurt. And this told me that God had plans to use me in His ministry in the future.
I said to the young man while he was still in his car that I can help him with Christianity but he refused and I knew from his attitude that he was intending on giving me a fast easy hiding. But he didn’t know how big my God is. I said a short prayer to God in my mind saying half with excitement and half with wonder, “Ok God its all yours, you know that I will not strike back and I will not hurt this young man in any way.”
When we were only a short distance apart he stopped and started being pushy in overconfident attitude. I just stood and listened to him and then I said what I knew to be the truth. He listened and as the conversation went he started looking more and more nervous. He got lots of text messages while he was talking to me and I guessed that it was from the person with the mental issues because he sent off a text message before he got out of his car to talk to me. Finally it was clear that he was not going to listen to the other person anymore and got into his car and left.
While he was talking to me I could see his aggression clearly disappear and he totally changed his view about the situation and it was very clear to me that God was guiding him to back off. It was an amazing thing to see. Over the last nine years I have read many stories of people getting into situations where they were innocent and prayed to God for help and they have been totally protected and yet the odds were against them.
I had to admit that since I refused to fight, and had promised God that I would not fight that this young man known for his violence could possibly give me a black eye or really hurt me etc. But that would be thinking in the ways of the world as I knew it in the past and not looking at the situation knowing that I had a powerful God with me. When we say that we have faith in God and we know that we are innocent, or willing to do good we must prove our faith in action and show belief to others in our genuine gentle nature.
My belief that if I am doing my best and show God that he can trust me then He will of course look after me because I am of no use as a damaged frightened person, especially after I showed God that I had the courage to believe that God would protect me.
When they were aggressive to Jesus what happened? Jesus healed the attacker with care and love. Jesus cared for those who were willing to do Jesus personal harm. His ways were obviously of peace and gentle forgiveness and I do believe with all my heart we are to be the same, and that we must live like that is all things that we think, say and do.
Since that occasion over the years I have come across a few situations like the one mentioned above, and in all cases I gave the situation to God and asked God to protect me and to lead the way. In tense situations I always ask God to guide my way and what I say. I try very hard to be calm because when one loses their temper they lose control of their thoughts and any old foolish comment can come out. It always works out.
Recently a person I know was been aggressive towards me in a crowded environment, again and again. As time went by he got into a lot of trouble with authorities because of other mistakes made. But to his credit he came and visited me recently and told me that he was sorry for how he acted and he said that he had listened to other people who had led him astray. Some people jealous because of the work that I was doing for God had let him wrong and he said his own self because over a period of some months he never actually came over to my home and asked me my thoughts and what I was really about. Instead he judged me and was willing to be aggressive without proof of any sort. He was very sorry that he was mislead and was very apologetic. I was happy that it was sorted out and that God had set him and others straight – God will fight our battles when we need God’s help.
Do you believe in God?
Do you really truly believe that God will protect you?
Do you have faith that our good God will do all that He can to protect us while we are trying to do good?
Are you following God truthfully with all your heart and soul?
It may seem that I am trying to say that I am a better Christian or better person than you by what I wrote above, but a lot of that belief came from stubbornness. I simply refused to believe in a lame weak non-action God. I didn’t believe in a god that sits in a book and does nothing. I believe in the Living God who does things and sets situations up to help people. God guides us every day in the most amazing protective ways.
Those that let fears drive them show that they don’t really have faith in God. I was once a non-believer and I was once filled with the most simple fears that drove my life and took me away from enjoying life. People with fears should not be judged for their fears. Each and every fear that a person has gained has come from somewhere and you can be sure that the fears didn’t come from God, but be comforted that God will help remove those fears to the willing and faithful.
Keep a strong faith in God and when the temptation to do violence or to be angry comes about try to be the opposite. Challenge yourself, strive to be a better person.
When the opportunity comes about and you are to be tested try each and every time to be stronger and live to what you think that a courageous person would do. Do what you think is right and pray to God for guidance. The world needs many good righteous people to help the world become a better place for those willing to learn and change.
All the best from James M Sandbrook.
Saturday, 29 June 2013, 3:51:36 PM.