I came acrossed a great quote yesterday, of course the only problem with it, was that I disagreed.
‘A heroic woman knows no fear, but there is a woman who is courageous in spite of her fear.’
And the reason why I don’t like the quote, despite it’s brillance is that whomever this woman is, she has taken ownership of her fear. Now this quote defines two types of women, one who is heroic, and one who is courageous despite her fear.
The heroic woman knows no fear. And I think that is where we want to be. Now what is the number one statement in the bible which stands out to me anytime there was a visititation either from God or from one of His messengers (ie. The angels in the garden, the burning bush etc.)
Do not fear.
This was Papa’s message to us. Simply, do not fear. And why does he tell us not to fear, well obviously because we are afraid while we are in a position where we have nothing to fear. Now this is the number one opening statement which Papa makes to people when He meets with them, or when someone speaking on His behalf appears. Do not fear. This is not a father chiding, or correcting his child – but He is stating, ‘Yo, there’s no reason to be afraid, relax.’ And obviously, we need Papa to remind us of this fact otherwise He would not bother stating it to begin with!
Now one person who experienced a lot of fear was in fact Moses. Think about it. Moses, the exiled Egyptian prince is meeting with God, having this amazing dialogue and meeting His maker. And what is he doing? Well for one thing, he is experiencing fear because Papa is telling him not to fear, second he is standing in a place which is holy, because Papa says so. Third, he is given a mandate, and his response is that he firstly will be rejected by his people, and secondly that Pharoah wont listen to him, and thirdly that he cannot speak very well. All three of these things are in fact motivated by fear.
But listen to this, as Moses journeys forward and steps out in faith His fear dissipates, and Papa uses him in some amazing ways. But all through his life there is still this sense of fear in Moses of the people he is leading, and Moses actually misses out on seeing the promised land because of his fear. He was given a specific direction by Papa, and instead of doing it as commanded, he adds to it.
Fear is a hinderance, and the life of Moses clearly illistrates this. Yes, Moses experienced a journey with Papa which was rare, especially since it was in the time prior to Jesus’ birth. Some amazing feats were performed through him, and he witnessed some of the most amazing physical and environmental miracles, and despite all of this he never got to see his promised land.
Do we want to see our promised land? You see I think Moses wanted to see the promised land, it was all he had heard about for years and years. But it was fear that robbed him of it. And I am convinced that there are things which we fear, which limit us, and prevent us from entering into our own promised land and the entire time Papa is saying to us, gently whispering in our ear.
‘Do not fear, for I am with you.’
Perhaps we have allowed fear to take a higher position in our lives; than we have allowed Papa to take. But the point truly is that, we do not have anything to fear. And I would rather be the woman who knows no fear.
