Love, Fear & Presence
I have been told that the most often repeated command in Scripture is “Do not fear.” I have also been told that the command of God that is most strongly stated is to love God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves. I do not believe that this is coincidental and I strongly suspect that these two commands are powerfully and formatively linked. But how do they connect? How do I rest in the love of God when the impact of fear and anxiety are at best distracting and at worst paralyzing?
Jesus walked this earth and faced the struggles and temptations we face and instructed us not to worry (Matt. 6:33-34). At the same time, He told us of God’s care for us, the priority of seeking His righteousness and cautioned us of the inherent dangers of borrowing tomorrow’s worry. Now when I shake all of that down to practical instruction, I hear Jesus calling me to be present before Him each moment as I move through life. Immediately, I am aware that too often His presence before me is eclipsed by the distractions of fear and worry.
The truth of the matter is I can only experience the love and grace of God is in the present. When I recall loving experiences with God in the past it prompts my gratefulness. These memories are free of the agitation coupled with fear and anxiety, as they are no longer a threat. Consequently, my awareness of God’s presence through that experience is raised significantly, and I am prompted to be thankful. In the same way, as I look to the future, knowing God will never leave me or forsake me, I am filled with hope and free of the distracting influence of anxiety and fear.
So that leaves the present filled with enough anxious distractions to place God in the shadows, only seen clearly through the perspective of hindsight or foresight. Now this my sound ridiculous, but in an attempt to be more connected to the present and aware of God’s presence with us in the moment I offer this experiment. You will need a grape, a Bible, a quiet place and thirty minutes. As you are seated in a comfortable quiet place take the time to experience eating a grape with all five senses. As you pick it up, take a moment to see how it feels. Is it soft or hard, smooth or mushy? Hold it to your ear and rub it gently with your fingers. What sound does it make? Is it louder than you thought or softer? Take a close look at it. Hold it up to the light, how does its appearance change? What does it smell like? As you investigate its smell what does your mouth begin to salivate? As you bring the grape to your mouth, how does it feel on your lips? What do you taste before the first bite? How has the first bite changed that? How has it changed as you chew it? Once swallowed, is there an aftertaste? If at anytime you find yourself distracted gently return your attention to the grape. Take your time in this process.
Now that you have tuned all five senses into the moment and attention of the grape transfer that attention to a favorite story from one of the Gospels. Read it carefully and repeatedly. Enter into the story using the information the Scripture gives us. Respectfully consider the story from the perspective of each of your senses. In a non-judging and accepting way, consider what are you feeling as you relate to this story? Emotions are only the feelings we identify. Once they have been identified, how does God relate to those feelings? Allow God to speak to you and prayerfully respond with an open heart. If you find yourself being distracted simply return to the story and re-focus.
You don’t always need a grape for your devotions but the need to be intentional to enter into the present is necessary. God is continually present before you with the wisdom, grace and hope you need for all of life’s anxiety producing challenges. The skill most of us need to refine is our ability to be fully present before Him.
01 Dec 2007 at 5:23 am
Hi Pastor Phil, Thank you, once again, for always drawing us to Him. This is a good way to get control of “mental wool gathering” when I’m in His presence. It’s not so much fear as it is the “little foxes” that are the most distracting. The big things have a way of keeping us focused like nothing else…it’s those little things! God bless you, Pastor and thank you for being such a beautiful reflection of our King.
Lori
03 Dec 2007 at 12:38 pm
If Love Himself is always present, always knowing and informing, all powerful to transform. All of the story lines can change, past, present and future. Visible reality, and the images produced in my own memory are constant reminders of the limitations of my human condition. The only cure of which is coupling them with the presence of Love Himself in every moment. Especially when all my fruit is rotten, and I can’t find my Bible.
08 Dec 2007 at 3:52 pm
1 John 4:18 gives a little perspective, too, when it says there is no fear in love but that perfect love casts out fear. Trust has to be factored in and the more we can trust our relationships to God, the less fear there is.
09 Dec 2007 at 9:39 pm
I have found it helpful to practice in such a way where fear is “dissolved” if you will in His presence, the presence of Love Himself, the Spirit of Christ. For many years I dichotimized. I veiwed Divine Love as being unable to “tolerate” the presence of my felt fear. I veiwed the bringing of my fears more fully into my own awareness as needing to be “cast out” in order for me to expereince His presence. Rather than an unavoidable expereince of the human condition. One that can be transformed when coupled with His presence. Kinda like…
“I couldn’t experience the emotion of fear, and expereince the Love of the Father in the very same present moment, after all … fear is evil, God is good never the twain shall meet”
It was hardly worth the pain to go anywhere near my fears, when the best personal working theology I had told me ” when I get rid of the fear, I will expereince His presence” Bada, Bing, Bada, Boom!! Didn’t work, didn’t transform. No change. The practice of learning to acknowledge my fears, to pay attention to them, to fully feel them, to fully feel them and couple them with His presence, while in His presence is where I find His overwhelming Love to dissolve them, transform them. This comes is all shapes and sizes, and in all sorts of ways particular to my own need.
As far as “More Trust = Less Fear. That equation never worked for me. The words “More Trust” were connected to this image of me just biting my lip, swallowing my fears, and pretending they didn’t exist. That put the posture of my fears in no proximity to His Love, where transformation takes place.
without a spell check…just my thoughts.