Text Box: As I write this on the last day of April, the story dominating the news is the Swine Flu crisis. There is a serious issue in Mexico, leading to major fears around the world. Some of the stories seem to be driven by our media’s goal to increase audience and play on the fears of the public. It reminds us that we are a public that is susceptible to irrational fears. I have two friends who are a part of our denomination’s missionary team in Mexico City. Paul was a classmate in seminary and Rick was in my Junior High youth group when I was a youth pastor in the 1980s. Below is a quote from Rick’s blog, http://rickinmexico.com Maybe it's due to the fact that I know God is in control, or that tons of people are praying, but I personally find myself not being too concerned about contracting this diseases. Of course I'm using common sense, and being careful, but not afraid. I am continuing to pray for Sandra, my team-mate, and her family as she recovers; she's been sleeping well, but so far has not gotten any better. The context behind this quote is that the team of about a dozen church workers in Mexico City have had three people sick with the flu this past month. Two have recovered and Sandra continues to be sick with what is believed to be the swine flu virus. The group just spent time together on retreat so they are all in likely contact with this dreaded disease. I want to ask us the question, what do we fear? My concern is that we fear the trivial and fail to fear what we should. Living in New Jersey, we are far more likely to die because we drink the water and breathe the polluted air, than if we have contact with one of the rare pigs in Bergen County. Smoking will cause over 300,000 Text Box: deaths in the USA this year and to date the swine flu virus has lead to one death. We should fear cigarettes and not pigs. A quick search of the word, ‘fear,’ shows that it is used 326 times in the Bible. Most of the time we are called to ‘fear the Lord.’ Let me contrast two verses from the Psalms. Psalm 2:11 says, “Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.” and Psalm 3:6 says, “ I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.” My argument is that if we fear God, we will fear nothing else. If we do not fear God, we will have many other fears. To fear God is to let Him do whatever He wants with us. To fear God is to seek His approval only. To fear God is to make your relationship with Him your most important relationship. To fear God is to die to selfish ambitions and live to glorify God. Lest I sound too pious, this is all easier said than done. The typical life of the Christian who fears the Lord is that we wrestle with maintaining our fear of God. The values of our society creep in and we need to regularly return to a place of submission. One sign that we are struggling with our fear of God is that other fears grow. We are fearful of the future and we fear what others think of us. We become afraid when the news exaggerates a threat. In closing, know that our fear of God is in the context of a loving relationship. God loves us and wants what is best for our life. I John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” May God bring us to Christian maturity as we experience His love. -Pastor Rick Text Box: Living Above our Fears Text Box: May 2009 Text Box: Fort Lee Gospel Church 1625 Palisade Ave. Fort Lee, NJ 07024 (201)947-1465 Pastor: Rev. Rick Spenst Web site: www.fortleegospel.org E-mail: fortleegospel@juno.com

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