Fear Is Natural, Know How To Live With It.
Proverbs 30
KJV
8+ Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
The most often ignored subject but real among men is the subject of Fear, it is assumed but not expressed!
Fear is “feared” so much so that we are afraid to talk about “him”! Fear is a despot and a tyrant that has ruled mankind since the Creation.
It has been the major cause of the failure of many a life. It shattered dreams, dimmed hopes, and rendered lives clueless and unenjoyable
It is a hidden spirit that lives in every man from Adam to John Tamakloe, it will continue to live till the last trumpet shall sound and time shall be no more.
As long as time and Man exist, fear also lives. Fear therefore is a natural phenomenon that we can not do without Almost every man listed in the Bible experienced its effect.
Cain feared losing face so he killed his brother. Abraham feared death, so he told Abimelech that Sara was his sister. The list of men of God who feared “fear” (!?) is a tall one. None is exempt!
So don’t be afraid to “fear”, you are not the first nor the last, everyone has something he/she fears. What you’ve read as the verse for discussion is David’s expression of his fears Both great and small, all do have fears.
In life there are three main situations or circumstances that we all fear, these are Death, Poverty and Sickness; all others are subservient and minor.
Death, poverty and sickness stood out in a “universal opinion poll” as the topmost that humanity fears. If in doubt conduct your own, ask yourself privately and in the quiet what do I fear? You’ll be surprised that these three will emerge as the topmost.
David had his fears as expressed in the verse you’ve read. “Do not make me rich or poor else there will be dire consequences that I cannot stand.” By these words, he is saying “I am afraid of extremities!”
It was in my first year in College, that I was introduced to Jeremy Bentham the “father” of the philosophy known as “ utilitarianism “
( John Locke, John Stuart Mills, etc also wrote on this subject )
One of his famous quotes that has remained etched on my mind over the years reads;
“Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.
On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne”
( Unquote) .
Oh mine! What a truth! Two “sovereign masters” rule our lives they are called “ pain and “ pleasure “. These two are the determinants, they decide what we do and or do not do.
Indeed everything we do in life is to avoid or minimise “pain” and increase “pleasure”.
For example, to avoid the pain associated with walking long distances we ride in a car. To avoid the stress associated with fanning a coal pot fire we buy and use gas or electric-powered stoves.
Yes, the Fear of “ pain” drives us to work and buy items of comfort and pleasure.
Death, poverty and sickness are what we feared most! Of the three Death is inevitable but still we can do something about it humanly speaking!
Yes, I am sure you are surprised to read this! Remember I said “ humanly “ speaking. What then can we do will be your next question!
If you care to know we can “ postpone “its arrival date! Oh yes! The majority including you does it almost every day just that you don’t realise it!
When we are sick don’t we visit hospitals? What do we go there to do? Why not stay at home to submit or succumb to the disease and die?
Remember sicknesses are indications that the body has deviated from its normal natural ranges or parameters and needs “ resetting”.
Something is out of setting and until it is reseted death will follow. Any time you attend a hospital, take a tablet etc ; you are postponing death’s arrival time. You are attempting to reset the body.
Medicines, medications, surgeries etc are deployed to reset the human parts that have gone out of their natural or original state. . All these efforts are meant to “ postpone “ or “ delay “ death.
In the spiritual realm, intercessory prayers are made, seeking divine “ postponement “ the certainty of which is beyond human control.
This belief and approach is based on the fact that God “postponed” someone’s death at His will and wish. If he did it to someone, then He can do it again. Here the reference is to King Hezekiah. (2 Kings 20)
Death and sickness are “distant cousins” , if sickness is well handled/managed “he” keeps “his” distant cousin, death away for a while. Know this so you can prolong your life.
The paracetamols we take are all temporary “ death and sickness postponing “ measures ! If you fail to take them sickness will visit, take and hand you over to Death. Now you know.
Finally what about “ poverty “? The fear of poverty is equally universal just like death and sickness.
However, we can live with it if we know its secrets and how it operates. Read it.
Poverty has many “friends” one of its best friends is called “lazy” but because they afflict many it is called “ laziness “🤣
If you unknowingly take him as a friend he will introduce you automatically to “Poverty” and his other friends; namely “comfort” and “procrastination”
Read the observation of one man!
Proverbs 24:30-31,33-34
NIV
[30] I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; [31] thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins
. [33] A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest--- [34] and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
So, yes though poverty is one of the three most feared yet like the other two, it can be managed or contained. If we can identify and avoid “his” friends as listed above so be it.
Yes, death, sickness and poverty are most feared yet we can live with them if we know how. Read over what you’ve just read to remember how to live with them.
Though they are inevitable do not let them overcome you, overcome them.
A thought to share! A word to a right-thinking person is both an investment and a seed!
Proverbs 9:9
NIV
Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.