The first emotion to be expressed after the Fall of man was expressed by Adam, "...I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10) The real question is where does fear come from, I want to propose that fear comes from separation from love. Adam and Eve were separated from God through believing "the Lie" and eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Since God is love (1 John 4:8), then fear is simply the absence of love. Fear is at the root of addictions, anger, broken relationships, often depression, anxieties, stress, striving, and many physical illnesses and diseases. Adam boldly expressed an orphan heart for an orphan heart lives in fear because of the disconnection from love. In 1 John 4:16 the apostle of love says, "We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." So any place in our lives where we have fear and an orphan part of our heart is where there is an absence of love and the Presence of God. Pastor Lee Eddy once said, that part of Christian Maturity is giving God access to every area of our lives. This goes against the commonly held tradition that if you know more of the Bible that you are a more mature believer, rather than intimacy with Jesus really is the mark of maturity. It is normal for any part of our heart that lives from the place of an orphan to have fear, thus we will have the fleshly living that is a fruit of fear in our lives. It is easy to get frustrated with ourselves for not doing what we believe we ought to do as a follower of Christ, but often we will find a root of fear behind this resistance. Does God expect an orphan heart to produce the fruit of a son? No, any area where we live from an orphan heart will produce like fruit. This fruit will be consistent with an orphan heart like selfishness, hiding, addictions, defensiveness, blaming, avoidance, or other forms of sin. Jesus says in John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" Jesus reveals the Father's heart, which is that we would be continually connected to Him and then through this connection we will bear much fruit. So could it be true that the Christian life is not me trying to produce fruit for God but simply continually being connected to the reality of His Presence, His voice, and His love. I have been struck by the Holy Spirit that things that we point out as problems like, fear, anxiety, lies, confusion are all really the absence of God. Fear is an absence of love, anxiety is an absence of peace, lies are the absence of truth, confusion is the absence of God's will, and there are many other aspects of God which we have common names for. Adam and Eve had to develop language that describe their experience of separation from God because prior to the time of the Fall they only would have had perspectives connected to relationship with God. So much of what we call "normal" in our world, such as dysfunctional families, depression, discouragement, teen rebellion, distant marriages, and anxiety are a picture without God's love and life flowing.
Yes! So true.
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