Why So Afraid?

Dear Diary, 28 December 2011

I decided having the subject as the date was dull, so now I will title each post in the subject line. So yeah.

I keep changing the name of my blog, too. I can't seem to find one that really fits...that is completely me and everything I am. The picture is also something I'm having difficulty with. Oh well. I'll figure it out.

Any readers out there, just beware that the name of this blog is prone to change at any moment. I'm still searching for that perfect title.

~

"And there were, in the same country, shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night."
I know this part of the story so well. An angel comes to them, and what's the first thing he says?
"Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."


He said "fear not". Before the angel opens his mouth, Luke 2:9 says, "...the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified."


Now why is that? Why when they saw the glory of the Lord did they fall prey to terror? They should have been filled with the great joy that the angels told about. It was supposed to be "to all people", after all.


But then, when I imagine seeing what they saw - the unfathomable, the stuff of dreams - I imagine myself trembling and falling to my knees. There is no standing up to the glory of the Lord. Those lowly shepherds tasted a fraction of God's glory, and they were struck with fear.


Why so afraid? Because, for the first time in their lives, they were face to face with something greater than themselves and, indeed, the whole world. Their sinful hearts were forced to accept that God is real and was involved in their lives. The mere thought strikes fear into the sinful heart.


Next, the angel says, "behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord." Don't be afraid, the angel said, because you are saved. "You will find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."


Jesus came to the world a victorious Savior, but he entered in the lowly form of a defenseless infant. Why? Many reasons. I think one was so that he wouldn't strike fear into men's hearts like the magnificent glory of the angels. His was a quiet glory of far immeasurable beauty than even a confrontation with an angel. His was an unimposing demeanor: a presence mankind could understand. The sight of Him brought great joy (Matt 2:10) not terror.


That's how it should be. We should be in awful fear of God's glory, however, the joy that Christ brought to us through His birth should overshadow that fear. It should empower, not immobilize. It should bring overflowing joy and make us more ourselves than ever before.