Whom Shall I Fear?

Passover season has come and gone. We have eaten the matzah, sang the songs, tasted the bitter herbs. Another year, another cycle of celebrating the remembrance of the freedom that we have and what price that freedom has come at. Once we were slaves, but now we are free!

I love Passover. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love the preparation and planning; the anticipation of the retelling of our Exodus out of Egypt. Believe it or not, I love matzah! I know it is the "bread of our affliction", but I think it is great. I love the taste and texture, but most of all, I love the simplicity of it. Flat, plain, simple, and delicious! This is also the bread of our freedom.

The more and more I observe these times of the Lord, the more I see Him, in everything! Each year that I celebrate these times, ADONAI shows me some nugget or deeper truth about Him and these holidays. I think that is why I anticipate them so much! I feel like a child who is waiting for their parent to give them a gift. You know you are going to get something, but you have to wait!

So I waited. I knew that He was going to show me marvelous and wondrous things, just like the way He displayed His glory to Egypt and the world through the plagues. I can imagine how the children of Israel felt as they watched each display of God's power and absolute authority. With each plague, the mighty power of Pharoah was chipped away; broken down. I can only imagine the anticipation that they felt as they watched this "super power" of it's day, be brought to it's knees! The unthinkable happened! God, Himself, showed His magnificent power and dominion over the lives of the Israelites, over Egypt, over Pharoah and the world.

So the first "gift" that God has given me this season is the reminder of FREEDOM! God, Himself, set us free. He removed the shackles of slavery and lifted our burden of bondage. His deliverance is permanent and complete. What a price was paid for that freedom. What an awesome God we serve! Whom the Son has set free is free indeed!

With this reminder I was content and happy. Oh the sweet freedom we have in Messiah and the awesome price that was paid for my freedom, deliverance, redemption. He has taken us to be his people and there is no turning back.

But, as with everything, God over does it. The other revelation that He wanted me to see came through a very practical application yesterday. Neal and I were out and about doing errands for the day and had to go to the restaurant to make final plans for the rehearsal dinner for this upcoming Saturday evening. Our youngest son, Mark, is getting married on May 1st, so as you can imagine, things are pretty busy and hectic. As we pulled into the parking lot and parked the car, we watched, as a lady unloading her groceries let her unattended cart roll down the hill and into another parked car! Of course, this could happen to any of us, but she seemed to not care and kept organizing the items in the back of her car. I jumped out of the car and approached her and asked if she realized that she hit the other car with her cart. She said that she knew and that everyone knows that they park in a parking lot at their own risk. I asked if she was going to leave a note for the person who's car was damaged and she said that she wasn't and that I could leave them a note. I could not believe the lack of concern or care this woman had for the damage that she inflicted. She told me that everyone knows that insurance companies will not pay out for this type of damage, so it really was not her problem. I told her that it was her problem and the right thing to do was to notify the driver and to make restitution for the damage. She began to get into her car. I said that I was going to take down her license plate number, since she was unwilling to notify them of the damage and give it to the driver. At this, she got into her car, told me to mind my own business and said a few expletives and gave me a few hand gestures and took off.

So here I was left in the parking lot, with a license plate number and not really knowing what to do. I started to make my way back to the car to get some paper and pen to leave a note for the person whose car was damaged when a lady came running up to me and asked what happened. She had witnessed the lady cussing me out and wanted to know if I was ok. I told her what happened and she said that she knew the lady whose car was damaged. She worked at one of the local shops, so she went and got her. I gave her the license plate number and my contact information in case she decided to pursue this legally. She thanked me for caring enough to speak up.

So what is the point? Absolutely not to pat myself on the back for doing a good deed. It really has nothing to do with that. Is it about the fact that we are our brother's keeper? Yes, but there is more. We should care about what happens to one another. As the lady was driving away and she yelled out the window that I should mind my own business, and I said to her that if more people cared about each other, the world would be a better place. This is when she made the wonderful hand gestures to me. Nice, right?

But isn't this also about fear? Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear? I could have easily walked away from the situation. I could have convinced myself that it wasn't my problem. I could have told myself that it could easily escalate into a dangerous situation and I could potentially get hurt. But WHOM shall I fear? If God is my refuge, my deliverer, my redeemer, then what can man do to me? And if people are unwilling to stand up for righteousness, then who will? Who will speak out against indifference, complacency, hatred, and evil? We are called to this life and bought with a price. The freedom that was given to us comes with a responsibility. If God has freed us from bondage and our oppressors, then what right do we have to not want that for others too? And not only spiritual freedom, but physical as well. We must stand in the gap. We must fight for the rights of the oppressed. We must desire to see others free, too. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed!

With all of this, my mind turns to Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance) which is on May 1st. It is literally right around the corner. It is not a coincidence that the Lord allowed me to experience this right now, at this moment. Many people stood up for the oppressed during the Holocaust. Many did so at great risk. Many lost their lives to do so. Whom did they fear? I know that taking down a license plate number is not the same as what many righteous people did during the Holocaust. But isn't it a step in the right direction?