“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear…” (1 John 4:18a NASB)
As we get to the end of another growing season and begin clearing out the garden, I can’t help but notice a few sad things…
Take the melon, for example. We planted melon for the first time this year. Imagine our disappointment when after two months in the ground, all the plants had to show were a couple of leaves… Not now, however! Now the melon bed was covered in melon vines. Unfortunately, by the time they began to grow, the season was over, and any tiny fruit that were finally trying to grow had been taken out by the frost…
My eyes then go to the beans. Again it was the first time to plant beans, and it was the exact same story as the melon. Only a couple of leaves after two months. And though they had finally started to grow, the beans came ripe while we were away and no one ate them.
Then there were the Kohlrabi. Same story. First time to plant them, but they never grew up at all. Now, as I clear the garden plot, I see one tiny plant trying its best to grow a Kohlrabi. Unfortunately, it is still too tiny to eat…
The question of course, is why didn’t the plants grow?
The answer can be found in the fuzzy-tailed, long-eared, nose-twitching creatures that love to bounce across the lawn: The rabbits! It’s difficult to believe that I once encouraged them to be in the yard, not now that I see how destructive they can be in a garden!
Why, then, did the plants eventually take off?
That all started the day I bought an animal deterrent: A solar-powered motion detector that emits a high frequency sound the moment it is triggered… The day that little guy went in marked the day my plants began to grow! I had read reviews that these devices didn’t work for a lot of people. It would appear, however, that our resident bunnies didn’t appreciate the supersonic sounds, and the little device successfully repelled all of them.
1 John 4:18 is a passage often recited in moments of fear. If you are like me, however, you might sometimes scratch your head when you read this verse. I mean, of course it is clear that loves drives out fear; but does this mean that if I love enough I will no longer be afraid? You know, if I love God enough, I’ll somehow trust Him with my fears?
I’m afraid this is how I’ve always taken this verse. But somehow this leaves me kind of frustrated. Of course I love God. But I’m still afraid. Does my fear indicate that my love for God isn’t pure? Isn’t perfect? Well if this is the reason, I’ll be waiting a very long time to do away with fear because as much as I try to love God perfectly, I’ll never arrive there this side of Heaven.
So is the verse promising something that can’t be attained on Earth? Where’s the fairness in that!
I was struggling with this recently, and God put on my mind to spend a few days meditating on 1 John 4. I was a bit surprised to read the verse in context: “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. By this, love is perfected with us…” (Vs. 16-17a NASB). Wait. Does this mean, then, that my own imperfect efforts at love aren’t what matters here? When God remains in me, His love is perfected with me?
The second half of verse 17 is also revealing: “…so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world.” (1 John 4:17b NASB). This means that God’s love is perfected in us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment! When the Bible tells us that there is no fear in perfect love (vs. 18), God is specifically speaking to us about the upcoming judgment! On that day, the devil will try to overcome us with fear: Fear that we are not saved, fear that we haven’t done enough, fear that our lives haven’t yet reached that certain level of perfection that God — really does not require! On that day, we have no reason to fear. Not because of our perfect love, which doesn’t exist, but because of God’s perfect love that is perfected within us!
Still a bit murky? It’s like this: Remember that the animal deterrent device in my garden emits a high frequency sound that chases the animals away. In the same way, God is love, perfect love. And on the day of judgment, fear cannot get into the bubble of love God has built around us. It has to flee.
Is this verse, then, so often quoted, only to be used in the context of the judgment?
Well this is the Biblical context for the verse, and that cannot be denied. However, I believe that it gives us some basic truths that are applicable to any situation. You see, God’s love isn’t only for the judgment. God is love. Therefore, wherever He is, there is love. It stands to reason, then, that perfect love (His, not our imperfect version), will repel fear no matter what the source. Our job when fear confronts us is to bring God into the situation. When we do, His unfailing, everlasting, never-ending, perfect love is brought in as well; that same love that drives out fear.
Stated a bit more simply, when we fear, it is simply because we have not brought God into the situation! The moment I do, the fear must flee, for, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear…” (1 John 4:18a NASB)
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Moderator, Associate Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
