Tuesday: Three Secrets of Fearlessness
WEEK 23
TUESDAY
THREE SECRETS OF FEARLESSNESS
John 16:1-4
We take one more look at the amazing boldness of this society, a boldness that was not merely in the leaders but pervaded the whole. A pervasive faith pushed out fear. Note this:
So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” And when they had further threatened them, they let them go. . . .
When they were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “. . . And now, Lord, look upon their threats, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness.” . . . And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. . . .
And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. (Acts 4:18-21, 23-24, 29, 31, 33 RSV)
Why were they so without fear? Three things arise from the account. First, they were accountable to God and not to people—“to listen to you rather than to God?” They had an unshakable center of loyalty to the Ultimate and the Absolute. When your supreme loyalty is fastened on people and things, you are uncertain and fearful. Second, they were true to their deepest selves—“we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” Third, they were true to their calling—“grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness.” True to God, true to themselves, true to others: these three things were at the basis of their freedom from fear. They were not playing for safety. Had they been, they would have been unsafe; for anxiety would have crept within. As one novelist has Paul say, “I am afraid of safety”; hence he was safe! Be true to God, to yourself, and to others; and safety will take care of itself; for you are safe when you are unsafe—safe in God.
O Lord, I thank you that I need not fly here and there for safety. I am safe in you whatever happens. For every happening can further me if I stay in you. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: I am safe in the purposes of God; outside of those purposes I am unsafe.