You Do Not Create What You Fear -- Mephibosheth

One pop psychologist commented:

"You create what you fear."

That statement brought me into a great deal of bondage in my life.

When I heard that statement, I committed to myself that I would never feel afraid ever again.

Yet the more that I tried not to be afraid, the more afraid that I became.

 I was afraid of being fearful!

Crazy stuff!

For this reason, we seek wisdom from the Word of God, not the experience or opinions of men:

"1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." (Psalm 1: 1)

Counsel of the ungodly is any advice that is not from God, which includes human psychology, pop psych, self-help, and includes the Twelve Steps, or any other system based on our earning, our doing something.

We are blessed because  of what Jesus did for us at the Cross, for the righteous live by faith, not works (Habakkuk 2: 4)

Now, let us consider Biblical accounts which demonstrate that we do not create what we fear, and more importantly our fear does not block our faith in Him!

Consider Mephiboseth, the son of Jonathan, the friend of David. Jonathan was supposed to be next in line for the throne of Israel, since Jonathan's father was Saul. Yet Saul was rejected, and David was called to take his place.

Jonathan cut a covenant with David, and exchanged with David his standing, so that everything that was Jonathan's now came to the Shepherd-King. As part of this covenant, David pledged to show kindness, or grace, to Jonathan's family even after he became king.

Now, when Jonathan and Saul died, the nursemaid of Mephiboseth took the boy and dropped him while she ran with him, and the boy became lame in both feet.

He remained in hiding for years, fearing that David would one day find him and slay him, for every time a new king took the throne, all the potential heirs would be killed off to prevent a possible future usurpation to the throne.

Yet David was not such a king, since he had cut a covenant with Jonathan to protect all his descendants.

So, even though Mephibosheth was lame in both his feet, even though he had a terrible self-image (He called himself a dead dog and bowed himself to the ground when David finally found him), and even though he had lived in fear of David and what he would do -- none of those things annulled the covenant which David had cut with Jonathan:

"7And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually" (2 Samuel 9: 7)

Even though Mephiboseth feared for his life, his fear did not undo the covenant which David had cut with Jonathan.

In a greater sense, we should never believe that because we feel fear, we have offended God the Father and we have forced him to forfeit his protection over our lives.