Whom shall I fear - The Second Fear: Troubles of the World

“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:20, 21)

“The floods have lifted up, O LORD, The floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea.” (Psalms 93:3, 4)

Rivers are a reference to worldly and human troubles. Today’s world is characterized by changes and alterations and fluctuations in all areas:

1. Politically: Wars and rumors of wars, insurrection, revolutions, changing of governments, terrorism and the clash of civilizations. The world today has become less secure than ever before. You may be astonished to know that throughout the written history of humankind, 8,000 peace treaties have been broken. There has never been more than 286 years go by without war and shedding of blood. “There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.” (Isaiah 57:21)
2. Economically: Stagnation and recession, the high cost of inflation, the fluctuation of stock prices and currencies, the spread of poverty and famine. Today's world has the largest number of poor and hungry people in the history of mankind!
3. Technologically: The information revolution and gigantic, growing technology, cloning and testing of weapons of mass destruction. Today's world possesses weapons that can destroy 50 of our worlds.
4. Environmentally: Climate change and the ozone hole, earthquakes, volcanoes, torrents and floods, increasing pollution and the emergence and spread of new epidemics. All of this makes one afraid of today, but even more of tomorrow
5. Morally: The collapse of principles and values, and the spread of materialism, individualism, and selfishness, competitiveness, the disintegration of the family, and the spread of corruption and impurity, cruelty and ferocity. When we read the description of people in the latter days in II Timothy 3, we see that we are in a troubled and agitated world that cannot be calmed. David refers to this in his Psalm as the approach of the wicked, not to eat with him, but to eat his flesh. The Psalm is filled with scenes of violence and cruelty of people towards him, and he speaks about: foes - enemies - wicked - false witnesses – breathing out injustice.

This is the second fear. Today, in spite of the progress of civilization, humankind has not restrained these aggressive tendencies. The world today is full of cruelty and brutality, killing more than before. The Bible portrays people in their evil: “Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.” (Romans 3: 13-17).

Example from the Bible
The Fear of Abraham - Father of Believers, Hero of the Faith

Abraham, the father of believers, wasn’t afraid when he was called to come out from his land, out from his tribe, and out of his father’s house. But he obeyed and came out in faith not knowing where he was going.

But when circumstances were changed and the situation was altered, and there was hunger in the land, he was compelled to move and go down to Egypt and Garar. In the two chapters of Genesis 12 and 20, Abraham saw the behavior of people around him and realized that the fear of God was completely non-existent in those places. And he feared for himself and his family.

As a result of his fear, Abraham said of Sarah, that she was his sister, which introduced him to a huge family problem. Sarah was taken from him and he was subjected to a rebuke from Abimelech for this. These were hard days for Abraham, the man of great faith, and for his wife, when he feared.

But why did Abraham fear?!
Why do we fear when circumstances change?!

Abraham was afraid because of three matters:

Hunger - Economic problems
Foreignness - Loneliness and immigration
Wickedness “they will kill me on account of my wife” - Social problems

We are also scared and frightened when we remove our eyes from our unchangeable LORD and fix our sights on changeable circumstances. Our financial circumstances may change, or we may be forced to travel and migrate, or we see the evil of people around us, resulting in confusion and fear. And in our fear we may make the biggest mistakes in our lives and against our families, just as Abraham, the man of God did!

”The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” (Pro. 29:25). Fear causes us to fall into many traps and bitter mistakes, but reliance on God will preserve our hearts from fear and our feet from error.

Magdy Samuel