Lightkeeper's Journal

The Calling

 

The Calling…

Article by Curtis Beaird
Photography by Norma Beaird

 

Jeremiah 6:16

“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see,

and ask for the old paths, where is the good way,

and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.

But they said, We will not walk therein.”

I know that we seek shelter in the storm. I know that we look for promise in spite of the cloud of uncertainty and we look for hope beyond the impending threats of the day. We look for rest for our soul.

It would be nice if Jesus stood in the boat and said aloud, “Peace be still”, and something called normal returned at the sound of His voice. It has before. Why not again? It sure would save us the trouble of the day.

But, I keep hearing Jeremiah when He spoke of the prophets and priests in His day. “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:14

I hear Jesus say, “The truth shall make you free.”

The Truth: We believe that God is always an ever-present help in time of trouble. But, His help can be disturbing. God heard the cries of His people held captive in Egypt. He called Moses from his pastoral life on the backside of Midian. His calling to face Pharaoh would put him at great risk. God more than disrupted his organized life.

Is God calling us to find our voice again in the middle of this storm?

The Truth: The Hebrews’ eventual departure from Egypt was anything but a walk in the park. They risked both trusting the Pharaoh’s decision to grant them freedom, which became a lie; and, crossing the Red Sea which would have ended in disaster if Moses had simply proclaimed peace, peace in the face of Pharaoh’s on-rushing army.

As Jeremiah pointed out, we are a wounded people. But, it does not have to become a sickness unto death.

Jeremiah again with his word of hope. “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk therein.”

The “old paths” have nothing to do with the nostalgia of our version of “the good old days”. They have nothing to do with, “Well, you know, life was simpler then.”

The old paths that will give us “rest for our souls” and prepare us for the days ahead, reach all the way back to that day when Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the gift the Father promised. “…ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Acts 1:5

Our deepest wound is fear.  

There is no reason to think that an “open for business” sign will silence its nagging spirit.  Fear is a more virulent virus than any other. Not only has it continued, but it has mastacised into the worst fear of all. That corrosive uncertainty that reduces trust to a wish forgotten, and that haunting feeling that all things bright and beautiful have been lost - - - So, what? Yes, you read that right.  So, what?

Remember, there was Twelve Apostles and a hand full of disciples. They turned the world upside down. “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” Acts 1:5

(P.S. Nowhere is it written that we are required to live captive to another person’s fear.)

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Grace and peace.

All scripture is King James Version

 

Copyright 2022, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved. 

Faith Changes the Impossible...

 

Photography and Article by Norma Beaird

 

Faith Changes the Impossible....
to Possible. Miracles are Real and Divine.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Your survival depends upon your faith in God. Faith is about believing that God is God, that He answers prayer and that miracles are still possible. The world's answers are temporary and cannot offer lasting solutions. Money, power or status cannot guarantee stability. Change is inevitable and even frightening to those without faith. But, when we believe...our faith in the Creator of the Universe makes the impossible.... POSSIBLE. Your true key to success is salvation, prayer and belief. There's not a magical formula, a ten-step process, or a current religious trend that can do what God can do in your life.

Matthew 19:26
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Mark 9:23
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Luke 1:37
For with God nothing shall be impossible.

God is not a trend or a Santa Claus in the sky. He is the Creator of Heaven and Earth. He loves you. He wants to be the stabilizer on life's rocking ship. The world will catapult us into stormy seas and God desires to anchor us in His presence, power and knowledge. His power is a power to change.... and it can change your circumstance, your health, your financial situation or your impossibility. With God, all things are possible. We must first believe in Jesus as our Savior and repent of our sins.

Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

We are coming to a time in this country (and in the world) where we must learn to depend on God for our survival. The world's political and financial systems have failed us and will continue to fail. Family and friends may be there for you....or.... they may not.

Remember, fear and unbelief will make people behave in strange ways. Fear will drive a sane person crazy and will render them dysfunctional. But, when all else fails, we can cling to our faith in God. We must depend upon God to guide us through these perilous and uncertain days. Jesus still saves, miracles still happen and the promises of God will stand.

Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

All scriptures are King James Version.

 

 

Copyright 2022, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved.

 

Jesus in the World

 

Jesus in the World

Photography by Norma Beaird
Poem by Curtis Beaird

He meets us in the silence of our soul,
The rancor of the world invades our spirit.

He speaks to us in a quiet voice of calling,
The seductive voice of the world spoils and destroys.

His mercy endures forever,
The will of the world is relentless and demanding.

His peace passes understanding,
The world thrives on chaos and fear.

He is an ever present help in time of trouble,
The world manipulates division and strife.

He always creates and cares,
The world drains and exhausts.

He renews our spirit,
The world attacks with a smile.

He waits patiently for an invitation,
The world abandons with delight.

Revelation 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice,

and open the door, I will come in to him,

and will sup with him, and he with Me.

 

And the world falls silent.

 

 

Copyright 2022, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved. 

The Homestead

 

 

The Homestead

 

Photography by Curtis and Norma Beaird

Poem by Norma Beaird

 

The goats and the roosters,

the ducks and the geese,

the hens and the guineas,

the fence and the trees.

 

The cabin and pasture,

the tractor and shed,

A day on the homestead,

with Mavis and Fred.  

 

Miss Mavis cooks biscuits,

while Fred milks the cows,

and gathers the hen eggs,

and pushes the plow.   

 

Their homestead is busy,

there's no time to waste,

The time's quickly changing,

and they must make haste.

 

They moved to the pine trees,

 and deep in the woods,

with oil lamps and cast iron,

and plenty of food.

 

 Their country is changing,

 and it's getting worse,

and freedom is riding,

in a long 'ole black hearse.

 

For freedom is dying,

and fear rides the wind,

the changes are coming,

and they're 'round the bend.

 

So Fred and Miss Mavis,

will homestead and farm,

and gather up hay bales,

for their weathered barn.

 

And they'll count their blessings,

and spend time in prayer,

while reading the scriptures,

in their rocking chairs.  

 

The times, they are changing,

but God's Word is true,

while skies may be stormy,

the Lord's sky is blue.

 

 So Fred and Miss Mavis,

will live free and dine,

when rich folks are losing,

their money and minds.

 

When freedom is buried,

and money is gone,

and chaos is reigning,

and life is all wrong.

 

Their homestead is quiet,

the table is spread,

with bounty and blessings,

the family is fed.

 

Like Fred and Miss Mavis,

let's trust God today,

and cling to His promise,

and He'll make a way.  

 

The times may be changing,

but cast fear aside,

Prepare and be faithful,

and He will provide.

 

 

Psalm 37:25

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

Entire Chapter of Psalms 37 can be read here. 

Psalm 84:11

For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Philippians 4:19

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

 

 

Copyright 2015, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved.  

 

A Crow and a Blessing

 

An American Crow fly-by after he cawed at me! 

 

On this particularly hot and oppressive summer day, God made me smile as I experienced the beauty of His creation through an American Crow and his entertaining caws.  Crows are very intelligent birds and extremely interesting to watch; and, if you pay attention to them, they will put on quite a show......and sometimes caw or talk to you!  

This fascinating crow not only put a smile on my face, he gave me a wonderful opportunity to photograph his amazing form in flight.  Consequently, since we're bird photographers, we're always excited and very grateful when we capture an avian wonder as he spreads his wings across a lovely blue sky.  God has many blessings for us; and sometimes, His blessings and opportunities show up in very unique ways.

 

A Crow and a Blessing

Photography and Poem by Norma Beaird

 

My spirit was heavy,

exhausted and worn,

the heat of the summer,

felt more like a thorn.

 

My heart needed laughter,

a cool, gentle breeze,

or raindrops from Heaven,

like cascades of peace.  

 

Sometimes God will send us,

the solace of rain,

or treasures like rainbows,

or comfort for pain.  

  

And sometimes God gives us,

the caws of a crow, 

to make us look upward, 

on paths that we go.  

  

The scriptures have told,

of a raven who fed,

God's prophet Elijah,

some meat and some bread.

 

No matter our need,

the day or the year,

God gives us a blessing,

and faith for our fear.  

 

He cawed and I looked up,

he flew from the tree,

his wings and a blue sky,

were lessons to me.  

 

The Lord gives our soul food,

in so many ways,

A crow was my blessing,

This hot summer day.  

 

1 Kings 17: 1 - 6 

1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab,

As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand,

there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

² And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying,

³ Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith,

that is before Jordan.

⁴ And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook;

and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

⁵ So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord:

for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning,

and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

 

 

Copyright 2014, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved.       

 

Enjoy the Passage

 

Photography by Norma W. Beaird at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida

 

Enjoy The Passage
 

By: Curtis Beaird

 

Listen to the wind
ride the waves
taste the fear
the anger
pine away for a lost love

Risk walking in the light
take a chance on living new every day
walk alone in the dark
believe the light in your heart
is greater than the darkness
that surrounds you

Hope again that this time will be different
refuse the lies fear tells
get up when you fall
feel your pain
refuse its bondage

Delight in the morning light
hold your life gently in the palm of your hand
never clinch your fist
never point
respect yourself no matter what
give up the illusion you’re self sufficient
she loves you
he loves you

It rains on the just and the unjust
be glad that includes you
life is too short
when you know that to be true
live that truth
then, live your truth
relax
you’re not in charge of much
fail with courage
succeed and celebrate
grieve when it’s your turn
plead guilty only when you are

Laugh at things that are funny
they are usually true
hold hands
sleep with the one you love
it may be the only rest you get
Enjoy The Passage

 

Copyright 2006, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

 

 

The Threat to a Sound Mind

Article by: Curtis Beaird

Photography by:  Norma W. Beaird

 

I Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 

Fear Arrives

Regardless of Paul’s list of spiritual gifts …..…"love, power and a sound mind,” an ugly fear was visited on us on September 11, 2001.  It hasn’t been the same since.   Fear and its cousin anxiety are at all times just below the surface.

But wait, there is more.  The economic meltdown of 2008 pushed us to a new edge.  If the threat of them over there coming over here wasn’t enough, now we have the economic threat of the disappearing 401k, brought to us by a financial system we built and believed in. 

Oh no!  What to do?  Where to turn?

Fear Grows

Today, fear is the emotion of choice.  We continue to choose fear and its primary expression of anger as the engine that moves us.  We prefer emotional spasms to informed decisions.   Paul’s gift of a “sound mind” seems way too passive in the face of the hurricane of anxiety that faces us every day. Given the choice of thought or feeling, all we need is a word or two, and we can start ourselves a flash fire.  Say “Communism” or “Communist” out loud in a mixed group and check the level of tension.

The Problem of a Sound Mind

Thought takes time.  Developing the capacity to consider and decide requires a steady effort that an anxiety-driven anger can’t wait for.  Patience may be a virtue.  Today, it is considered a weakness, if not a liability.  Quick, something has to be done!  Panic, oddly enough, competes with boredom for the upper hand.  Boredom in itself is a low-grade anger.

The little train that could now wears, not the face of courage, but the mask of grim determination.   Shrill voices dominate.  Rage, not reason, is offered as a guide.  The power, love and sound mind that Paul thought were gifts of God have been driven underground by a fear that he implied was not sourced in God.

The Threat to a Sound Mind

Like it or not, and we don’t, there is no way back to the days of our pre 9-11 innocence.  The days when we believed the illusion that we were safe and secure from all alarms are gone.  Those were the good ‘ole days.  Now, it’s a daily struggle over gun rights and the TSA.  The burning question whispered here and there, “Whose house did the drone fly over today?”  Conspiracy theories once laughed at as political fiction have fallen into the “where there is smoke, there is fire” category.

Jesus’ statement, “there shall be wars and rumors of wars” has become more than a statement of reality, it is a business model.  By the way, not all drones are snoops.  The one built by Kratos Defense and Security is described with some wonderful abstract and cool language.  They state that these unmanned fliers are “…utilized as high fidelity enemy threat surrogates.”  Yeah baby.

And, who wouldn’t want to cut a winged “surrogate” out of the sky with a 50 Cal.   For a picture with substance, imagine shooting down a model airplane.  Dirty Hairy never had it so good.

The High Cost of a Fear-Driven Anger

When rage replaces reason, it is easy to demonize would-be leaders.  Romney and Obama have been demonized, and as long as fear and anger remain the emotion of choice, they will continue to be.   We the angry believe that power lies in the strength of that emotion.  Its heat generates such a sense of self, that for a fleeting moment, it dominates our feelings of helplessness.  Never mind that it blinds us to the forward look.  

We never realized that living on the outskirts of rage is debilitating.  It robs us of thought.  It reduces choice to what is put before us.  Read that again.  Anger reduces our choices to what is put before us.  Like it or not, and we don’t, our fear-driven anger blinds us to possibilities that we could otherwise see if we settled, blinked twice and thought past the chaos that surrounds us….. and that is manufactured for us.   Paul again…... 

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

The Final Loss

All of the above said to say this.......anticipation is buried.  God’s gift of power is eclipsed.

Being a baby boomer, born in 1945, I knew the experience as a teenager of working construction alongside men who won their war.   They were different animals.  I was thirteen.  They, to include my father, were in their early to mid thirties.  Do you get the picture?  There was nothing they thought they couldn’t do.  I grew up in that atmosphere.

Super-charged anticipation is the best way to describe it.  The Cold War?   The Russian Missile Crisis?   The hinky little bomb shelter built in front of the fire station a few blocks from our home?  None of that applied.  Today was what it was, good, bad or indifferent…… but we were on the way to tomorrow.  Tomorrow was always on the way to better.

A friend of mine in his forties said to me a couple days ago, “I hope I can keep my job so I can retire. Maybe we can get the country headed in the right direction.”  If you saw him, you would think you were seeing a professional in mid-career.  He sees himself as a tired man with a job he hopes to keep.  A man looking for a way out of the fray.  At forty-something?  The spirit of the line, “I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul,” has long departed the building.  

As for me and my house, we trust God and His Word.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 

Bring it on.  The best is yet to be.

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved. 

 

What To Do.....When You Don't Like Anything

Article and Photography By:  Curtis Beaird

 

You don't have to listen close to hear that the glass is half-empty and about to be drained.  Doom is pronounced on every hand.  The dreary end is cited as an accomplished fact, even by those who once thought there was a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. 

And we wonder.  What shall we do?  Who shall we listen to?

The forward look is now controlled by the assumption that the bottom is about to drop out.  Anticipation has turned to dread.  Tomorrow is no longer welcomed.  Its arrival creates anxiety, worry and doubt.  How many of us are tired, even before we start the day?

The possibility of a bright future is automatically exchanged for a view of the abyss. Exhaustion is our reward.

And we wonder.  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen to?

Frowns are the face of choice today.  Our sense of humor has been exchanged for sarcastic barbs. Criticism powers most, if not all, observation.  Exposing the presumed and assumed ugly has been raised to an art form.  Exploring the seedy and demeaning is the path of choice.  Tabloid is relished. Honorable has been forgotten.  Anticipation is nowhere to be found, unless it is the anticipation of the next wrong thing.  We are sad.

And we wonder.  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen too?

Everyone waits for the other shoe to drop. It, whatever it is, is never right.  Whatever "they" are doing is considered wrong.

Choose any subject, even the subject of the need for rain, and you will find an instant difference of opinion.  "Push back", as it is called today.  Argument is the communication of choice.  We prefer anger to vision.  We choose fear over courage.  We indulge in preplanned disappointment rather than seek opportunity for creative risk-taking.  We quit before we start or add the burden of denial to any new effort or project.  “I really don't think this will work.  But, I'll do it anyway."

And we wonder.  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen to?

To accomplish, should we bring ourselves to the point of actually trying, requires the double expenditure of energy.  First, the energy spent to overcome our negative outlook, then the energy necessary to accomplish the goal.  Our creativity is consumed in wasted effort to resist our own initiative.

And we wonder.  Is there a source of motivation deeper than the froth of hype, and more lasting than the adrenaline rush of a moment of thrill?

Is it possible?   Can we escape the way of insanity?   Can we escape the downward pull of gloom? Can we escape the gravity of the perpetually grim?  Can we find our way into a creative future?

All of this has been faced before.  All of these questions have been answered by one man in a single sentence.   

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”   Philippians 4:13 

That one decision enabled the Apostle Paul to change his world and mark the future for almost 2000 years.

We no longer need to wonder........  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen to?

 But, will we?

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

Full Barns and Empty Souls

 

Article by: Curtis Beaird

Photography by:  Curtis and Norma Beaird

Jeremiah 8:20

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

 

The context for this verse is the relative economic strength enjoyed by Judah, circa 586 B.C.   Economically, things were going well.   While the Assyrians were a menace, they were placated with taxes.  Business wasn't great, but it was okay.  Things in general seemed okay.  Spiritually, Judah had found their way to what would today be called secularity.  Yahweh was essentially forgotten as their God.   When it came to integrity, i.e. truth telling, they had forgotten the meaning of the word.  When it came to deceit, they were masters of that.   Basically, Jeremiah seems to say,  

"We've done everything we knew to do.  We followed our best practices.

We cultivated the field, sowed the seed,

tended the field and carefully harvested the crop; 

and, still, we are not saved."

 

We looked to the things we knew to do,

We looked to the things we thought we had power over,

the tools in our hands, the imagination of our minds,

the command of sowing and reaping,

 

We looked to the things we control

or think we control,

to produce what can only be received

from God as a gift --- Salvation.

We took full advantage of the prime time of the year

when opportunities for growth are enhanced,

when the sun is full and the days are long.

When the risk to our livestock is the least

and the opportunity for trade is the best, 

when the time of gathering and storing are at their peek.

when the chill is neither in the air or in our bones, and still...... we are not saved.

 

We looked to the works of our hands,

the decisions of our minds,

the strength of our will,

the efforts involved in the spending of our days,

the determination born of long struggles from the past,

assuming all the while that it would be well with our soul,

"And, we are unsaved."

We looked to ourselves and our efforts for both harvest and salvation.  Not only salvation from Hell, but from the hell that has been made of God's gift --- His created world --- His sacred order.

An unsaved people, ignorant of the source of all of life, ignorant of the sacred gift of life, will desecrate the sacred, even and maybe especially in the face of their achievement.  They will celebrate themselves, go their own way, follow their own deceitful ideas and congratulate themselves on a job well done.  A bonus is handed out all around.  But, the echo of the prophet Jeremiah chills our soul when he puts these words into the mouth of his achieving people,

 ".... the harvest has past, the summer has ended, and, we are not saved."

We looked to our various processes to save us.  We looked to our systems, we looked to our technique.  We looked to our best practices.   At the end of the road, we found three things......the spoils of greed, an empty fatigue and the staggering truth that our achievements that excluded God, leave us in the vacuum of loneliness .......at risk, terribly exposed, vulnerable, and unsaved.  An unsaved people, a people who willfully cut themselves off from their God are a terrified people.

The terror of being unsaved produces the recycling of past failed efforts, in hopes of generating the desired spirtual result. In other quarters, that is called insanity.

Spiritual insanity ends in captivity.

In our case, we:

 1.   Increase our belief in the past failed promises offered by the limits of technology.  The distraction of starting my car with my cell phone temporarily masks the reality of my empty soul and my general fear of life.  The technology that distracts me from the daily uncertainty that has become life lasts only until, as we say, "the new wears off."   Then what?   We realize again the button we pushed only lead us to a false sense of control.   We are still unsaved.

 In our case, we:

2.  Find our way to more and larger malls, distribution centers and outlets.  This creates a better opportunity for the work of our hands to become cash -  that becomes debt -  that becomes more stuff.   And, still we are unsaved.  But now, we are not only unsaved, we are also broke.  Our burden of fear is increased. 

The terror of being unsaved produces a redoubling of efforts in the same

sowing and reaping process, but we expect different results.

 

*** A bigger, fuller barn is expected to produce a satisfied soul.  Wrong.

*** A larger, more productive harvest, sold at ever increasing prices, is expected to produce a secure soul.   Wrong.

 *** The terror of being unsaved produces an insanity that sends us from one exhausting effort  to another.   We redouble our investments and become even more exhausted. 

 ………"And, still we are not saved."

For Jeremiah's people, the hope that filled barns and paid taxes would stave off the Assyrians, and later the Babylonians, proved wrong.  Hope in their economic capacity and financial potential was an empty hope.   Their world was literally destroyed.   The hope that an alliance with Egypt would bolster the fighting ranks and provide force enough to intimidate away the onslaught of the Babylonians, proved wrong.  Their world was literally destroyed.   

 

The people were hauled away as captives.

Even as their Jerusalem-centered world collapsed, the hope was that Egypt, not God, would show up.  They never consulted God on the subject.  They were wrong.

 

Egypt never arrived. 

The Judgment of God did....

Later, "By the rivers of Babylon.....", they would sit down and weep.  It was too late when they remembered Zion, and the place that the worship of God once held in their lives.  They traded the joy of the Lord for the tears of grief.   They sowed their fields with their arrogance and reaped the harvest of loss.

Our reasoning, shorn of the presence of God, emptied of the worship of God, and driven by greed, fear, lies, and deceit, leaves us repeating the same mistakes again and again.  Without the clarity that God brings, we will spin our last bad decision into the self-deceit of our next empty fantasy.  If it didn't work before, we will re-imagine it, and produce another fail and wonder why. 

Without God, without the worship of God,

without the gratitude that the worship of God brings,

filled barns will leave us with the gnawing knowledge that

"still we are not saved."

We account for every hour of every day.  But, we ceased taking into account, Yahweh.  We totaled every bushel of corn, every cup of oil, every shekel and coin, but we ceased giving consideration to Yahweh.  We were responsible with all things manageable and tangible, but we found ourselves irritated by the need to worship God......so we didn't. 

A full barn and an empty soul leaves us living the words of Jeremiah,

"And, we are unsaved."

 

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

 

 

In the Shadow of Our Fear

 

 

Article and Photography

By:  Curtis Beaird

 

Fear lies, cheats and steals.  It dismantles our confidence, sullies our imagination and robs us of our energy.   There is no life standing in the shadow of our fear.  It discourages, demoralizes and finally renders us passive. Hunkered down in the semi-dark of a self-created anxiety, we wait and wait and wait.

We wait, not with a productive patience or in eager anticipation, but with the sigh of one haunted with debilitating belief that the other shoe is about to drop.  Fear raises useless and wasteful questions, the “what ifs” and the “why” questions.  What if I lose my job?  What if we have a wreck?  What if Uncle Buck gets cancer?  What if there is not enough money?  And of course, the real killer, why bother? 

Fatigue is the telltale sign we are battling an empty fear.  A hollow fear generates an unexplainable but ever present sense of tired that drags us away from the joy of our next dawn.  Fear converts blessings into doubts.  It whispers that whatever we have or do is not enough and not right.  It always leaves us unsatisfied and wanting more.

Fear invites us to waste our imagination.  An imagination void of possibility collapses on itself and becomes at best, none productive and at worst, destructive.  Fear convinces us that security at all cost is the highest good.  It encourages retreat.  It can see only what can go wrong.  Fear feeds despair.  There is no life in the shadow of our fear.

Fear is subtle and masks itself in false strength.  We think we have met the vague challenge or assumed threat with a firm and almost out loud “Sure, bring it on.”   Really?   Bragging is a thin veil covering a dark dread.  The declaration, "I like a challenge," while it sounds like the announcement of our competitive edge, it more than hints at the shadow way.  Fear drowns initiative in pseudo confidence.  Fear fragments us.  It divides and conquers.  It whispers “Nothing can be done.”  It generates the false conclusion, “It is too late.”

When God shows up, shabby fears are dispelled.  They are replaced with the empowering awe and wonder of a God who calls us out of our self-styled, small dark corners and into his world of possibility and promise. 

At Moses’ death, Joshua was replaced as the leader of the Hebrews.  That calling came with more than directions to gather the people and cross a river. “Be not afraid…...” said God to Joshua.  It is as though God knows we will find a reason to shy away from our best future.  

“Fear not,” says the angel Gabriel to the one who was about to change the world by giving birth to the Christ.  It’s as though God knows we will find a reason to shy away from the good news of His presence. 

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love..…” says the Apostle Paul to Christians (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV).  It’s as though God knows we will find reason to miss the best gifts He gives us.  There is no life in the shadow of our fear.

 

Copyright 2011, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.