10Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
Christmas can be a glorious time of year, but it can also be a season in which we come face-to-face with certain fears, that can tarnish our celebration of the season. It may be rejection - there may be people that we have to face, maybe family members, that we don't want to. It may be failure - we keep up the pace and try to make just the right impression with our gifts, the meals we prepare, or the parties we attend. It may just be a desire to withdraw, to not engage with people, or a fear of losing what we have. You may be experiencing pain and suffering during the holidays - the Prince of Peace is saying that He has not and will not forget you. He came to earth to die for you, and in Him, you can really live. Christmas can be a wonderful reminder of the life that He desires for you to experience.
The words are clear and reassuring - we find them in 2nd Timothy chapter 1, where we read this familiar passage:
7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
In verse 9, the apostle Paul reminds young Timothy that God has:9 ...saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began...
One of those traditions of the season is the annual airing of the classic television show, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" - with its somewhat endearing characters, timeless music, and the clarity of its message - eventually. Charlie Brown is having a struggle with Christmas - he doesn't feel it or understand it, really, and for him, the celebration leaves him empty. Never mind that he is bombarded by the cynicism of many of the characters in the supporting cast and experiences emotions that children of his age really shouldn't, but do.
So, a despondent Charlie Brown goes to Lucy's makeshift psychologist's booth and attempts to help Charlie work through his issues. And, here's a portion of the script, from IMDB.com, that I'd like to concentrate on:
Lucy Van Pelt: Are you afraid of responsibility? If you are, then you have hypengyophobia.
Charlie Brown: I don't think that's quite it.
Lucy Van Pelt: How about cats? If you're afraid of cats, you have ailurophasia.
Charlie Brown: Well, sort of, but I'm not sure.
Lucy Van Pelt: Are you afraid of staircases? If you are, then you have climacaphobia. Maybe you have thalassophobia. This is fear of the ocean, or gephyrobia, which is the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia?
Charlie Brown: What's pantophobia?
Lucy Van Pelt: The fear of everything.
Charlie Brown: THAT'S IT!
So, the answer is, in Lucy's not-so-expert mind - involvement. You know the story, Charlie Brown becomes the director of the Christmas play where he experiences more failure, even in the choosing of a pitiful Christmas tree. The apex of the plot and arguable the most memorable moment of the whole show is the quoting of the Christmas story by Linus.
The story of the coming of Christ just makes everything clear. And, so in our lives the coming of Christ, the presence of Jesus can help us focus beyond our fears and experience hope and peace.
Lucy's character reminds us that fears do hold us back in our desire to experience the abundant life. And, while you may not have a fear of staircases, the ocean, or bridges, our lives can be characterized by other damaging fears that result in insecurity. The fear of rejection is a huge one. The fear of failure. We want to measure up to some artificial set of standards and we try so hard, only to fall short.
The Bible speaks of the fear of death - we're not convinced of what is beyond, so we have a dread that takes root in our hearts. And, there are people who are just flat out afraid to live, for whatever reason. Fear paralyzes us, and keeps us from living the way that God desires for us to live in Christ Jesus.
During this Christmas season, we can personalize the coming of Jesus and reflect on how He has not only come to earth as a baby and walked as a man, but how His presence can reside in our hearts. Isaiah 9 reminds us that He is the Prince of Peace. In the midst of our struggles, our Savior is there with us to make a way for our hearts to be settled and our lives to radiate a sense of dependence on Him - we need that assurance, don't we?
In the midst of our longing for affirmation, we can experience a God who loves us unconditionally. Just like Charlie Brown experienced the cruelty of the kids around Him, we may be facing certain aspects of the cruel world around us. We may be facing the rejection of a family member, the disrepair of a relationship, or even certain tension in the workplace. We can press in to the love of a Father who loves you so much that He sent His Son for you.
And, we can wear ourselves out trying to perform and seemingly always falling short. God is calling us out of a sense of "trying" and desires for us to "trust" in Him. Larnelle Harris recorded a song many years ago that said:
It's not in trying but in trusting
It's not in running but in resting
Not in wondering but in praying
That we find the strength of the Lord.
Maybe you've found yourself running around in circles or running headlong into a brick wall - your life is characterized by frustration, or even anger, because you feel you don't measure up. Fear of failure is taking its toll - His strength is available to you, to calm your fear, to affirm you hearts, and to enable you to experience the love of a Savior who wants to identify with His love, that never fails.
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