Buck To Basics

     Following up on the question in my last blog, “When fear takes hold how do you stop it?” here’s the scripture in full that answers it – “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship,” Romans 8:15.

     That’s enlightening because it tells me we’re either under the influence of the “Spirit of sonship” or the “spirit of fear,” there’s no in between; it’s either one or the other. And the reality of that faces me as I get older. We live in mortal bodies, verse 11, the signs of which become more obvious as we age, and it dawns on us that what’s knocking us about health-wise at the moment could kill us. It makes death real.

     And when death becomes real, it’s scary. And when you get scared of death it can take over your entire being. It’s the only thing you can think of. We’ve witnessed that with the latest threat of a pandemic. People panic. The preservation of their lives becomes all-consuming, and they go to extreme measures to protect themselves. They become slaves to their fear, acting more like hunted animals in their behaviour, with their nerves on edge and eyes always on the alert for danger.

     But we live in mortal bodies that can easily die. That’s the reality we all face, so it’s not surprising we get scared when our lives are threatened, and unless someone can come up with an antidote, we’ll always be at the mercy of our fears. Well, there is an antidote, says Paul – it’s the “Spirit of sonship.” Receive that Spirit and never again will we be slaves to fear.

     So, what does the Spirit of sonship do in our heads instead? Verse 16, ”The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” The Spirit somehow connects up with our brain cells and lifts us into another dimension. He cuts through the fog of fear enveloping us and helps us see God, but see God in the most amazing way – as our Father. The God who has power over everything looks upon us humans as his kids. 

     When death threatens, then, the Spirit counteracts our fears with the realization that we don’t in fact belong to these bodies of death we’re encased in, we belong to God. Whatever suffering he lets us experience in this life, therefore, is under his total and loving supervision. It fits his purpose exactly. But what possible purpose could he have in us suffering?…