We all remember our first attempt to ride a bicycle. It appeared to be so simple as we watched another ride, but when we started off, the first thing we did was fall. After repeated attempts, we discovered it was possible to find a perfect balance. We could not lean too far to the right nor too far to the left. We must be neither over-confident or under-confident.
The Christian life is a bit like learning to ride a bicycle. As we start out in great confidence, the first thing we do is fall. When this happens, we reason the cause, and as we pick ourselves up and try again, we have learned our first lesson. After repeated falls, we find that we are learning how to find a balance in the Christian life.
If we are manipulating our road through life successfully, love will be the key to keep us riding safely. We must love God, love others, and love ourselves as a forgiven child of God. The Bible says, "Perfect love drives out fear" (I John 4:18 NIV). Love then, is our greatest asset; fear is our greatest enemy.
The world is filled with fear. We fear pollution, wars, AIDS, the rise in crime--the list goes on and on. To overcome these fears, we must draw closer to Jesus so that we can accept His love and learn to love Him more. It is only as we learn to surrender our lives to the One who formed us in our mother's womb, and to trust Him completely, that fear begins to vanish.
Love comes from God; fear comes from Satan. To overcome fear then, we need to arrive at the point in our life where Jesus Christ reigns supreme. Negative thinking and negative speech invite fear. Complaining invites fear. As unbelievers tell us about their fears, our own fears are enhanced. We can even become fearful of falling into Satan's clutches. Again and again we need to remind ourselves that knowing God's perfect love for us, and loving Him in return casts out all fear.
Individual Christians and churches have difficulty putting Satan in his proper place. Many wish to ignore the dark world and teach only of the great Light, Jesus, who can dispel all darkness. This is the best approach, but it has one problem. By over-confidence in thinking that the dark world has no power over us, pride in our own strength can destroy us.
Jesus died at Calvary almost 2,000 years ago to overcome fear, sickness and death. We need to learn to be confident in this assurance. Yet as we enjoy the peace of this great victory, we must not become overly confident in our own ability to stay away from worldly values, fleshly temptations and the devil's power.
False doctrines and deceptions are everywhere today. The Apostle Paul said, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood...but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph.6:12 NIV).
As we learn to ride our spiritual bicycle in better balance, as we learn to stop at the traffic lights which are God's laws, we become expert riders not apt to have an accident. Fear will be banished as we learn to snuggle into the arms of our Creator where all is peace and rest. We will be overcomers!
© 1999, Doreen Palmer