The ugly twins

The man who doesn't fear the Lord will fear everything else. 

We have come to a day when we live in the midst of ugly twins, twins that always walk together.  It happens when men turn away from God, when they reject him and want their own way.

These twins come, like the horses of the apocalypse, when we abandon God and no longer live in fear of him.

Solomon wrote, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."  But when we no longer fear God it doesn't mean fear is no longer part of our lives.  In fact just the opposite happens...fear of everything else grows!

And when fear permeates a culture it's ugly twin shows up- anger.  When all of life is up to me, when I no longer trust in a sovereign, a king to help me, then fear invades my life.  When life seems out of control anger rises. Anger erupts as I respond to the fear that overwhelms me.

I've wondered how long it would take for the ugly twin, anger, to show up and now he has come to join his brother, fear.  

Once more, Solomon comes to the rescue as he wrote, "The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil."  But in the absence of a healthy fear of God comes another kind of fear.

"The fear of man brings a snare." Prov. 29:25. 

In the absence of a fear of God the flesh responds to the fears around us and strikes out....it's the ugly twin we are seeing today...anger.  And when anger is given full vent it looks like this,

"...outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these."  Gal. 5

When the ugly twins show up their cousin, anarchy, follows close behind.

All of this is being lived out in the evening news as we watch the twins acting out around us.  

So how do we respond?  How do we deal with the temptation to invite fear to dinner?  

The only response for a believer it to trust God.  It's a Godly fear that will vanquish the twins and give us peace.  We dare not enable the twins to act out in our lives.  Our only response can be the one the apostle Paul invites us to,

"Therefore, having these promises, beloved, 

let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 

2 Corinthians 7:1