Articles
What Are You Afraid Of?
God placed fear in us for a reason. To feel fear is to have a little voice in us warning us of
danger. A little bit of fear keeps us on our toes and helps us stay alert and on guard. When people
get too comfortable around dangerous animals or machines is usually when they get hurt,
because they stop paying attention and stop following safety procedures. Maybe it’s time we
wake up and have a little fear of Satan put back into our lives.
Would you fear being controlled like a puppet to carry out the plans of the devil in this
world? Sounds farfetched doesn’t it? Maybe it’s not as outrageous as it sounds. Even when we
have the best intentions and we are doing what we think is right, we may be carrying out the will
of Satan instead of God. We get a glimpse of this from Jesus himself. “From that time Jesus
began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him
aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”
But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for
you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Matthew 16:21-23).
Peter likely believed he was doing right in confronting Jesus. If Peter’s words could be
used by Satan, should it really be a surprise that our actions and words can be as well? The only
way to avoid this type of trap is to be on guard and keep our mind on what God wants us to do
and say. The only way to do that is to know the Bible. The Bible tells us to be on guard against
Satan, but have we become careless because we lack a little fear. “Be of sober spirit, be on the
alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”
(1 Peter 5:8).
~B Tolbert
