Worry, Fear, And Stepping Back Into The Grave

Cemeteries are creepy. I lived across from one growing up and much of the time it was just a normal part of our scenery. This cemetery was a part of the church we went to so we often walked to church using the road that went through the cemetery. That wasn’t a problem, most of the time. But we also went to church Sunday evenings. When fall rolled around, and darkness rushed in before church let out, sometimes I walked home from church through the cemetery at night. Creepy.

Cemeteries are full of dead people and you don’t want to hang out with dead people. Why would you? They don’t have a sense of humor, you can’t borrow their truck when it’s moving time, and let’s not even mention the smell. There is no good reason to prop your feet up and get comfortable in a cemetery. Yet, there is a way that Christians do that very thing on a regular basis… in a spiritual sense.

The other night at our small group we were talking about battling temptations of pleasure that are promised by our flesh, the world, and the Devil. I spoke about fighting fire with fire. One person asked for an example. I began to talk about worry, but soon realized that the sin of worry was not going to work as an example. It turns out that fear wouldn’t work either. They wouldn’t work because there is no tempting pleasure offered in worry and fear. There is no tantalizing allurement when one worries or fears. If there is nothing desirable about worry and fear, why do we keep wallowing in them?

Because we remember the old life that we were rescued from, and there are some things that still seem normal about it. So we step back into the grave. Recall with me, that all Christians were once spiritually dead. There was a tombstone propped up over our whole life, even our religious activity. Instead of “Rest In Peace” inscribed on that stone, it said “Work for Peace.” That is what we did as unbelievers. We were working and working to find peace in all of our efforts. We tried to be good enough, to be worth enough, to be respected enough, to be influential enough. But we could never get it done. There was failure to some degree at every turn. And so worry and fear were our constant companions in the grave. It was just a normal part of life.

But then, in a flash of brilliant grace, God rescued us from our dead self-effort. We found peace in Christ. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” This all-powerful Savior used all His power to bear the infinite fury of God in our place. And now, being raised in victory, He lives to use all His power to do good to us in the giving of Himself to us. Because of this glorious gospel truth, worry and fear have been left behind in the grave. They are not things bound to us, as though we are locked in a casket with them. Sadly, they are things we foolishly, and repeatedly, step back into.

When you live with worry or fear, all you are doing is living like an unbeliever. There is no forbidden pleasure that has drawn you there. You are only doing it because you have forgotten all that God will be for you in Christ. Your mind is thinking like an unbeliever. Don’t do that. That is grave-dwelling. There is nothing for you there. Get out of the dirt and soar as a son riding on the wings of the sovereign and fatherly Lordship of Christ. In those high and fresh winds, there is freedom, security, and a sure hope of God’s good plan overcoming the world.