Ever since I was a kid I have had this strange fear of slanted heights. I had more nightmares about being on the side of a mountain or on the top of the mountain and losing my balance and falling downhill. Although I spent plenty of time in Yosemite and climbing up hillsides there or standing at the edge of Glacier Point looking down, I still would have those terrible nightmares. Considering only once I fell at the edge of the Grand Canyon, you would think I would be over that fear.
I think those strange little fears that we all seem to have are what the devil likes to use to hold us back in our lives. We may have something as simple as a fear of interviews to keep us from getting a job to a fear of rejection that keeps us from sharing Jesus with our friends. The key is to remember that fear is not from God. Read II Timothy 1:7.
For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
If we have fear it is usually because the devil is thrusting fearful thoughts our way or because we are doing something we know we shouldn’t. The devil may use media, friends, or family to bring fearful thoughts in to our minds. For example, there has been much fear lately about the economy, terrorism, natural disasters, political and social issues. We see so many people out of work or we hear about another terrorist bombing. We worry about what will happen next or how bad it will get. We wonder what God is up to. We fear He isn’t listening or going to do anything about all these problems. It is almost like standing on that slanted hillside and wondering if we can make it to the top over the mess we are in. We feel like we are just going to slip and fall downhill.
Habakkuk the prophet felt the same way. In the book of Habakkuk we read about his prayers to the Lord about the turmoil and devastation that was going on around him. He was in fear. He wasn’t seeing God come to save His people. He couldn’t understand what God was doing. God answered Him only to reveal that the troubled times that Habakkuk was living in was due to the people’s sin against the Lord. God was bringing judgment on them for turning from Him. He was using nations that were even more wicked than they were to punish them in hopes of turning them back to Him. At the end God gives Habakkuk some encouraging words. Read Habakkuk 3:17-19.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! 19 Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!
As Christians we can know that no matter what is going on in the world around us that we can rely on God to give us the ability to climb up to mountain heights and stand when we live a righteous life. We don’t have to rely on our human feet to help us walk through troubled times. God will give us the kind of spiritual feet that will give us stability and strength to keep going. Those slanted heights will no longer give us fear. We will be on top of the mountain of turmoil looking at it from God’s view. We will know that God is ultimately in control. The circumstances that surround us are not in control, God is. So rejoice, God knows what He is doing. Just remember to keep living by faith like it says in Habakkuk 2:4 and you will climb those mountains in your life without fear.
