Fear Mongering

 

I don't know about you, but as a Christian who trusts God and His Word, I am fed up with all the fear-mongering swirling around the Covid-19 pandemic. I am tired, exhausted, fatigued, and overwhelmed by the differing mantras to "wear a mask," "don't wear a mask," " you should double your mask," "no, triple your mask," "a mask won't protect you," "a mask does protect you," "get vaccinated - take off your mask," "get vaccinated - keep your mask on," " you'll need a booster shot after you get the first two injections," "there is a deadly variant coming worse than Covid-19," "he's wrong, she's right," on and on and relentlessly on! The Bible is very clear about spreading fear (fear-mongering). What is fear-mongering? Fear-mongering or scare-mongering is a form of manipulation. It causes fear by using exaggerated rumors of impending danger or doom. Certainly, there are justified health concerns regarding viral outbreaks as there are every year when a new strain of flu is discovered. Pandemics are nothing new in history, and their long record across the ages and continents has much to teach us about how best to handle the current outbreak. Fear-mongering is not one of them.

Whether you believe Covid-19 is true or false, overblown or not overblown, the regular flu or an out-of-control full-blown pandemic that will kill 1/3 of the planet is not my point nor why I'm writing this blog. The 15-month "pandemic" is simply the vehicle that has given me an opportunity to speak about how dangerous and deadly fear is. In fact, fear is more dangerous than any pandemic past or present!  I see a lot of scare-mongering today, ridiculously so, causing people to unreasonably worry. As a believer, if you are more concerned about your health, your financial future, or wearing a mask than you are about lost souls, then you are not right with God. If you are more concerned about the end of life as we know it, motivating you to store food, toilet paper, and ammunition than you are about searching the Scriptures and sinning less, then you are not right with God.

Just because someone presents a conspiracy theory, doesn’t make it true. Just because it is believable by some or even most doesn’t mean it should be believed.  In a pandemic of fear, some of which is very real, and much of which is only fear-mongering we have a Christian duty not to walk in the ways of everyone else! When something makes you afraid and you are not sure if it is true or not, you are to cast your anxieties on the Lord in prayer (1 Pet 5:7), verify the message through research and study as much as you are able, and speak (or forward) only that which is both truthful and loving (Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 4:15). Proverbs 29:25 says, "The fear of man brings a snare: but whosoever puts his trust in the LORD shall be safe. SHALL BE SAFE! Not might be, not could be, SHALL BE! During all the panic and ever-changing messages you are hearing, have you truly placed 100% of your trust in God? Are you allowing fear to make your decisions instead of believing what God has promised to those that love Him?

God is the God of uncountable armies at His disposal. Consider these comforting words from Psalm 91: "If I make the LORD my refuge, if I make the Most- High my shelter, no evil will conquer me; and no plague will come near my home. For He will order his angels to protect me wherever I go! They (His angels) will hold me up with their hands so I won’t even hurt my foot on a stone. I will trample upon lions and cobras; I will crush fierce lions and serpents under my feet! The Lord says, “'I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name."' Have you truly made the Lord your refuge? Do you dwell with Him on a daily basis? Do you trust His Word as absolute truth? He promises to PROTECT THOSE THAT TRUST HIM. We honor the LORD by spreading Truth, both to people in general and to those who fear every conspiracy and forwarded that fear-inducing message to us. We need to be aware of fear-mongers! Don't let anyone cause you to worry about future provisions here on earth, disease, pandemics, viruses, food shortages, etc. more than laying up treasures in Heaven. Solomon figured it all out. You don't need gold more than you need to go soul-winning. You don't need storable food more than you need to get saved if you've never come to Christ. You don't need ammunition more than you need to search the Scriptures as a defense. You don't need to fear any virus more than God's promised protection. Your spiritual condition comes first. The Bible repeatedly tells us to trust God (Psalm 118:8), lean not unto our own understanding (Proverb 3:5-7), and separate from this sinful world (1st John 2:15-17).

Dictators, cult leaders, abusers, and Satan himself have always used fear to control their victims. Fear of retribution, fear of being alone, or losing self without their presence, fear of the ‘outside’, fear that they are right and all else is wrong. Fear that without them, you are nothing. Fear you'll die if you don't comply with their manipulations, etc. Fear is the most powerful driving force known to man, right next to love. Scripture tells us, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18). It is no surprise then, that fear the best tool of the enemy of your soul. Through fear, evil people and Satan get total control of you, thereby manipulating you into compliance for whatever. Knowing fear has this power, men and women who use it are an extension of evil, working their iniquities either by purpose, or ignorance!

Who is fear-mongering today and trying to cause all of us to become ensnared by the Spirit of Fear? You do know don’t you that God doesn’t operate like that right? God does not cause His children to fear like that. He may cause our enemies to fear like that, but not us. No, when you encounter someone trying to make you afraid because of all the evil or the "unknown" running rampant in the world right now understand that the spirit of that person is not a messenger from God. Yes, this country may very well come under judgment from God, but does that mean that those of us who are in Christ will ever be separated from the love and protection of God? Regardless of what you're afraid of be it death, taxes, global warming, debt, China, identity theft, war, someone you love dying, your own health, the dark, unemployment, tornadoes, or the current lingering pandemic, do not allow fear to negate your faith in God's promises. Despite how easy it can be to let fear lead our lives, it's important for our mental, physical, and spiritual health to actively war against fear by applying God's promises as given to us in the Word of God. 

Until He comes,

-Pat-