Thought for Today
2 Chronicles 29:8 Therefore the wrath of the LORD came upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he has made them an object of horror, of astonishment, and of hissing, as you see with your own eyes.
Psalm 55:5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 6 And I say, "O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Mark 5:36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."
Yesterday, I asked “Where did evil come from? Is evil inevitable? Is it necessary?” This morning, as I began to go about my morning routine, I heard a reference on one of the network morning ‘news’ shows to horror. Yesterday, when Greta and I shopped for groceries, we saw Halloween candy and decorations on the shelves and displays.
As I thought about the concept of horror, I was surprised to find that the word horror only appears in the Old Testament. The psalmist wrote of horror overwhelming us and prayed for wings with which to flee and find rest for one’s soul. Jesus offered that same rest for the soul simply from taking his gentle and humble yoke upon us.
I cannot help but wonder about our human interest in vicariously experiencing fear and horror. Although often the result of evil, fear and horror are more descriptive of our own reaction to experiencing evil. I must certainly admit that I prefer vicariously experiencing evil, prefer my fear and horror to result from watching television or movies. But why are humans even interested in evil, fear or horror?
The world of the Bible was in many ways different from our own. When we read in Judges about Sampson, his world was one where someone might well encounter a lion in Israel. I do not know how prevalent bears were in Israel in biblical times, but I can read, “1 Samuel 17:36 Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." Dorothy did proclaim, “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my.” Sampson might have said something similar. But how many of us have ever encountered wild animals outside of a zoo or circus?
Is real horror, outside of works of fiction, still a concern in our modern, advanced (?) world? We would get a different answer from citizens in Kiev or Gaza or Nepal than from most of us in the U.S.A. Unless we have been in the military, few of us have experienced the fear and horror of ‘things that go bump in the night.’
In my youth in Texas, I never heard of bears attacking anyone. I read about wolves being a concern during frontier times, but never heard about wolves being seen in real life. The horrors of my youth were more along the lines of watching Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. As an adult, I have heard about bears now again being sighted in Texas; and, I know that wolves have been reintroduced into Yellowstone Park.
Have our modern lives been so tamed that we need to recreate some of the dangers faced by our ancestors? Again, we would get a different answer from citizens in Kiev or Gaza or Nepal than from most of us in the U.S.A.
Horror, fear, and terror are all as real as evil. The possibility of encountering any or all of those realities is real for each of us. How does that reality interface and interact with my faith? It is easy and tempting to try to understand the promise of my faith as some sort of forcefield that will protect me from all harm, as a protection against danger. I would not be the first to do so.
But, Jesus’ words above from Matthew and Mark carry a far different message. Jesus is addressing a much greater fear, horror and evil. Jesus’ words of promise have to do with our relationship with our Creator God. Jesus is offering us protection and assurance for our place in eternity. Jesus is restoring our relationship with God, bridging the abyss created by our disobedience.
It was fun and entertaining in my youth to watch the antics of Abbot and Costello. It was and still is not very frightening to experience horror, fear and terror vicariously on a television or cinema screen. But, for me, facing eternity without my faith and belief would be the most terrifying thing imaginable.
Do not fear, only believe and accept God’s gift, trust God,
Pastor Ray