"Fobos" is the Greek word for fear, terror and fright.
It is used in the New Testament to describe the fear Peter felt of the wind and waves when he was walking on the water, the fear Joseph felt when an angel appeared to him, the fear the temple-bouncers who were supposed to arrest Jesus felt of the crowds, the fear of the lazy talent servant towards his hard master, and the fear of the three disciples at the Transfiguration.
It is a primitive, knee-buckling and debilitating fear. It brings the worst out in us, it paralyses us and inhibits faith. The Bible regularly reminds us that this kind of fear does not belong. In fact, those who count these things tell us that the Bible says "do not fear" some 365 times - one for each day of the year.
But I am interested in _why_ we do not have to fear:
1. He places His right hand on John. It's a simple gesture, but one of great comfort and closeness.
2. He is the First and Last - there are no surprises to Him. He knows where we have been and He knows the road ahead. We can trust Him to guide us through.
3. The greatest fear we have is for our lives, but Jesus has conquered death. He has conquered our mortal (pun intended) enemy. Not only has He overcome, but He has dominated death - He holds the keys.
We are often tempted to "fobos" but we don't have to be debilitated, paralysed or inhibited - Jesus is close, Jesus has the bigger picture and Jesus is our Victorious Champion!
Don't let fear bully you!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
