In light of the tumultuous events of this past week, the only logical choice was to look to Dr. King for wisdom this weekend. We are living through extraordinary times, but so was he. By some measures, we have come a long way since these words were spoken. By other measures, little has changed in our world.
As we grieve, let us consider the outstanding words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“First we must unflinchingly face our fears and honestly ask ourselves why are we afraid. This confrontation will, to some measure, grant us power. We shall never be cured of fear by escapism or repression, for the more we attempt to ignore and repress our fears, the more we multiply our inner conflicts…By looking squarely and honestly at our fears we learn that many of them resides in some childhood need or apprehension… By bringing our fears to the forefront of consciousness, we may find them to be more imaginary than real. Some of them will turn out to be snakes under the carpet.”
“Courage is an inner resolution to go forward in spite of obstacles and frightening situations; cowardice is a submissive surrender to circumstance. Courageous men never lose the zest for living even though their life is zestless; cowardly men, overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life, lose the will to live. We must constantly build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. ”
“Envy, jealousy, a lack of self confidence, a feeling of insecurity, and a haunting sense of inferiority are all rooted in fear. Is there a cure for these annoying fears that pervert our personal lives? Yes, a deep and abiding commitment to the way of love. “Perfect love casteth out fear.” Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that.”
Excerpts from a sermon Dr. King preached on fear in 1962. Source
Several years ago, I was listening to a lecture given by a child psychologist. While he had a lot of wisdom to offer about various aspects of child development, this one simple line resonated with me in a special way and I’ve never forgotten these words: Mad has to go over to sad.
The lecturer went on to explain how common and natural it is for people of all ages to cope with uncomfortable emotions by masking them with anger. It is hardly a conscious effort, but rather an instinctive response that often occurs when we are overwhelmed or confused by our other emotions. He explained that when children are acting angry or throwing tantrums, there is often another emotion behind it, and the quickest way to help them move past it is to help them identify the underlying emotion, feel it, and then work together on an appropriate response. I started paying attention to my own children’s outbursts and realized that responding to their anger with anger or punishment simply prolonged the struggle. In small children, mad almost always goes over to sad before the situation is resolved.
Then I started paying more attention to myself. Though it was pretty hard in the moment, after I had calmed down from being angry I could almost always identify another emotion that was hiding within the anger. Sadness, sometimes, but also feelings of frustration, disappointment, grief, failure, inadequacy, and fear. These feelings are painful, and I’d rather avoid feeling them. Lashing out in anger gives me a sense of being in control when my genuine feelings are threatening – because they reveal all the things I can’t control. It is false and it is temporary, but it will persist until I call a spade a spade and identify what hurts. This defense mechanism seems to come standard on most human beings.
The problem with this is that reacting in anger, especially when being angry might not seem justified to those around us, can lead us into words and behaviors that cause pain to others. Physical violence, hurtful words, damaging objects… in others words: sin. Anger so very easily leads us to sin. And the worst part about it is that usually anger isn’t even at the root of the problem.
“In your anger do not sin,” is an admonishment found twice in the Bible. It is maybe more familiarly known from Ephesians 4:26, but in his letter Paul is actually quoting Psalm 4:4. I happened to read this verse in two different Bible translations and the differences were so intriguing that I ended up theology-nerding out with my husband a bit, using all sorts of crazy reference books. It turns out, I had underestimated this old familiar verse.
In short, the word often translated as anger refers to a trembling or quaking reaction caused by a strong emotion such as anger or fear. It is in this state that we must be especially careful not to sin – because it is exactly then that we are especially prone to it.*
Let’s face it, 2020 has been a scary year. And even as we hear calls for unity to face our circumstances together, it sometimes feels like the division and controversy is only growing. Even if we want to be united, we can’t agree on what we should unite behind. There are ugly words on social media and on television, ugly actions occurring in streets and parks around the country, and it seems to only escalate. I wish I could say that people who identify themselves with Jesus were somehow rising above the fray, but I think we all know that isn’t true.
What if we could acknowledge that so much of our anger is actually a costume disguising the fear, grief, and disappointment that might otherwise overwhelm us? We are trembling with these strong and painful emotions and it’s coming out sideways. Our fear cloaked in anger is leading us to sin, and it won’t stop until we rip off the mask like a Scooby Doo villain.
Perhaps it’s time to do as the rest of Psalm 4:4 instructs: “search your hearts and be silent.”
The remaining verses of Psalm 4 are like a guide for resolving the tantrum. Like a good parent, our loving Father sees our angry outburst for what it is and patiently longs to lead us to a healthy resolution.
v. 5: Trust in the LORD v. 6: Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. v. 7: You have filled my heart with greater joy v. 8: I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
In the end, we find our peace and rest when we find our security in God alone.
* We studied this primarily using a Hebrew Interlinear Bible and a theological dictionary, but if you don’t have access to those you can easily look up an Amplified Bible online to explore different possible translations.
Moment of Beauty
Music can elicit and help us express our emotions. The first movement of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony is a classic and familiar peace that really expresses this feeling of anger eventually resolving in peace. And if you happen to be a more visual than auditory person, this graphical representation of it can help you see what’s happening in the music. Even if you aren’t a big fan of classical music, this may be a good background for asking God to help unmask any hidden emotions so you can move through to peace.
“When they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down.”
Once, when I was a little girl, I woke up in the middle of the night and was terrified to find there was someone in my room. I was too scared to even cry out for help, and besides, if my mom were to come in this shadowy figure might hurt her. As I lay completely still and watched the intruder I wondered if he hadn’t fallen asleep. He was sitting very still in my chair. But I couldn’t see his eyes in the dark, and since I was also very still but very much awake, it stood to reason that we were just staring at each other. I’m not sure how much time passed or if I eventually dozed off, but as the early morning light began to filter through my window shades, I realized that I was alone in the room after all. A helium balloon that had started the night clinging to the ceiling in the opposite corner of the room had drifted and as it started to lose helium, it was hovering just above the chair. Add a few clothes and dolls carelessly left on the chair in just the right way and a frightening intruder was born. When I couldn’t see clearly, a cheerful balloon was transformed into the head of a creepy stranger.
A similar thing happened to some of Jesus’ friends once. They were in a boat in the dark and while they weren’t facing a dangerous storm, they were trying to row into a really strong headwind. They were working so hard but not getting very far. And on top of it all there’s a ghost-like figure approaching them on the water.
They blink and squint into the darkness, willing their eyes to see more clearly. No boat. It is definitely just the form of man. He’s getting closer. Without a boat to stand in, the only explanation they can grasp at is that there is an actual ghost coming toward them. Of course they were terrified!
Jesus reassures them that there’s nothing to fear. He identifies himself to them and joins them in the boat. On top of that, he takes care of that little wind problem they were having. So not only is the moment of fear over, but so is the struggle they were having without him. I’m not saying that they fully understood what had just happened, because I’m pretty sure they didn’t. But there was relief in their fearful hearts and in their aching shoulders that probably made understanding seem less important.
I’ve heard it said that while we’re all in the same stormy sea that is the covid-19 crisis, we’re not all in the same boat. It’s true that we’re all struggling against different winds. Some are grieving loved ones, while others are struggling to make ends meet after suddenly finding themselves out of work. Still others are finding themselves overworked as they care for patients or conduct research around the clock in an attempt to end the crisis. Graduates are grieving the celebrations that should have been and parents are struggling with the unexpected role of teacher. Whatever boat we’re in, our collective muscles are aching from rowing into the wind, and all the while there’s something terrifying out there that we can’t quite identify.
When John describes this night from his perspective (John 6:16-21), he says that after Jesus identified himself to them, “then they were willing to take him into the boat.” (John 6:21, emphasis added). Jesus didn’t force his way into the boat, but the struggle against the wind continued until they invited him into it.
I pray that, wherever you are reading this today, your eyes would be able to discern Jesus coming toward you, offering relief from fear and struggle. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Whichever boat you find yourself in, know that Jesus sees you “straining at the oars” (Mark 6:48) and is ready to join you if you invite him into your boat.
Moment of Beauty
Enjoy natural beauty today. If you have access to a park or other natural area, try to make time to take a walk and focus on the sights and sounds of nature around you. If you aren’t able to get out into nature today, take a few minutes to enjoy this peaceful stream. Take a few deep breaths and enjoy the calm waters.
“‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
I think it’s fair to say that most people are very aware these days that there is more to the world than meets the eye. As a microscopic virus imperceptibly spread to nearly every corner of the globe, it was probably the invisible nature of the threat that frightened us the most. Everything and everyone around us – from our neighbors to the shopping cart at the grocery store to the mail in our mailboxes – could be crawling with deadly viruses waiting to infect us. Or perhaps it had already infected us and we were unknowingly spreading it to our loved ones, since it seemed many people carrying the virus were asymptomatic. One more way the threat was hiding in the realm of reality that the human eye simply cannot perceive on its own.
Of course we are scared of coronavirus. None of us is all that comfortable with things we can’t see.
That’s why I keep coming back to this passage in 2 Kings. Like a scene out of a great spy movie, the king of Aram keeps having his plans foiled because it seems like the king of Israel always knows what he’s about to do before he does it. The king of Aram suspects he’s got a mole on his team but it turns out the king of Israel is getting his information from Elisha the prophet. Needless to say, the king of Aram is less than thrilled and sends his spies to find Elisha so he can be “dealt with”. Elisha is found in the city of Dothan, so the king loses no time. Under the cover of darkness, he moves his army into place and surrounds the city.
Early the next morning, Elisha’s servant sees what’s going on outside and reacts about how you might expect. When the sun went down the evening before, there was no army threatening, and now literally overnight it seemed that the whole city was doomed. “Oh no! What shall we do?” is how the NIV translation records his response, but I wonder if some of his reaction might have been lost in translation. I think if this guy had had a smartphone, there would have been a picture of the army on Instagram with some rather course language written all in caps, hashtag #wereallgonnadie. It would be cross-posted to Facebook where he would instantly have 30 comments that stoked his fear and also told him who was to blame for his imminent demise.
Without access to all that “helpful” technology, the servant runs to Elisha with his fear and panic. He finds Elisha calm in the face of the crisis, and Elisha tells him not to be afraid. Are you seeing the pattern yet with people who are really close to God and their response to crisis? Don’t. Be. Afraid.
Elisha doesn’t even ask him to have faith in something he can’t see. Rather, he asks God to open the man’s eyes so that he can see the invisible reality about who is actually surrounding who.
Friends, the realms of reality that our eyes can’t perceive on their own are not restricted to microbiology and pandemic-causing viruses. The news is not all bad. The threat of the virus is real and we should all be taking reasonable precautions. But far too many Jesus followers are in the public sphere and social media acting more like the servant than like Elisha. If people who are close to God are known for being calm in the face of crisis and encouraging the faith of the people around them, then perhaps we should all take a hard look at how we’re responding to the current situation. If someone were to scroll through your Facebook posts or email history for the past couple of months, would they see the attitude of the faithful prophet or the hysterical posture of his servant before his eyes were opened.
I suspect we all have areas where we need to ask God to “Open our eyes so we may see.”
If you’re wondering how the story turned out, no one from Aram’s army was harmed and the way Elisha handled it resulted in peace between the nations. It’s definitely worth reading.
Moment of Beauty
This is one artist’s rendering of what Elisha’s servant may have seen when his eyes were opened. It’s a beautiful reminder that just because we can’t see God’s response to our difficulties doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly powerful. I’m reminded of the words of the worship song: “This is how I fight my battles. It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by you.” As you contemplate the painting, pray that God would open your eyes to see how he is fighting your battles for you, and has a plan to bring peace for everyone involved.
Painting used with permission from artist Bill Osborne.
“First we must unflinchingly face our fears and honestly ask ourselves why are we afraid. This confrontation will, to some measure, grant us power. We shall never be cured of fear by escapism or repression, for the more we attempt to ignore and repress our fears, the more we multiply our inner conflicts…By looking squarely and honestly at our fears we learn that many of them resides in some childhood need or apprehension… By bringing our fears to the forefront of consciousness, we may find them to be more imaginary than real. Some of them will turn out to be snakes under the carpet.”
