We Shall Be Free

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

Today, there is a pandemic of slavery in our world. Not so much slavery in the traditional sense, with the buying and selling of humans as property, but a covert slavery, a bondage that has no use of physical chains. Slavery to fear ruins lives and cripples our world. Why is this? Why are we so afraid to act? Why do we sit in quiet rooms when the world around us presents adventure, when the very friendships we avoid for the risk could be our very purpose. It seems we've become content with complacency, to avoid risk by the religious practice of inactivity. Maybe we've been hurt, maybe we've been stranded by the ones we love, maybe our circumstances have left us to forever question whether or not goodness can truly find a way in this world, but whatever the case we let that fear bind us. We miss out on the great blessings of our Lord's provision because we're afraid to rely upon it. We claim on Sundays the unwavering sovereignty of our Lord, we proclaim his goodness in loudest song in our sanctuaries, but outside those walls we confine Him to hushed tones and quiet thought. We're so content to lead quiet lives without risk, to never challenge those fears we've gained throughout the years.

And it's selfish.

And it's pride.

We like to think of our fear as humility, when in reality it is a lack of faith in our Lord. We refuse to act, waiting upon a sign of his approval for a course of action, and we're always so shocked when that sign never comes. We pray, we fast, we stare at the wall in anticipation of the Divine Finger Painting to give us direction. All the while, God holds doors open for us. If only we would simply align ourselves with his perfect truth, commune with him in the most trivial parts of our existence, invite him to take part in our lives like we would a friend, we might not be so afraid to act without written consent. St. Augustine put it this way "Love God, and do what you want." Now, those of us who have just been staring at the wall might find this idea frightening, even blasphemous. Do what I want? Isn't that the least wise idea ever? After all "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) If I do what I want, won't I just go astray? But we forget how that verse began. "Love God." Why is this so hard? We all know "Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart." We all know "And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Have we ever bothered to put these together? Perhaps if, instead of focusing on our specific circumstances, we just loved the Lord, delighted ourselves in Him, He might conform our desires and our wishes to His will? Maybe, just maybe, He might still be the sovereign Lord of our lives if we acted on our desires in accordance to our love for Him and others. How rich our lives would be if we spent more time doing than thinking, if we got off our knees in prayer and made prayer a lifestyle, a constant conversation. What if we offered ourselves as a living sacrifice? Not a praying sacrifice, not a thinking sacrifice, not a waiting sacrifice, but a living, active, doing, being, meaning sacrifice. And should we falter, we are in the arms of a loving savior. If we truly love Him though, if we are truly aiming to please Him, our want will never be to forsake Him. We must cast out fear with love. We simply must. We must trust Him with our actions, we must offer our lives to him in meaningful ways. If we do, we won't be paralyzed by fear but empowered by active love.

What a concept.