Good post.That is not the kind of fear I am taking about at all.
I am not afraid of the bullies, the communist goons or their state sponsors and spooks. I'm not afraid to die standing for what I know is right.
The fear I am concerned with, coincides with the question Yeshua asked regarding whether or not He would find any on this Earth when He returned (Luke 18:8). Because when Lawlessness abounds, the love - and the faith - of many Believers is going to grow cold.
And I got a small taste a few years ago.
Easily said. However, I was shown something of my own self in a situation most Americans have never experienced... yet.
It is one that all of us are going to face soon as trends continue.
Despite all the head knowledge you may have, despite the countless bible studies and church attendance - when it seems God is absent in the midst of abject evil being perpetrated on those you love without deliverance... a whole lot of what we assume suddenly transforms itself into anger at Him whom is seemingly absent and not answering prayers for relief.
Enduring what is to come with your faith intact, is going to be the hard test. Given my own failure in that situation - it is one I fear is likely to happen en-masse here given how infected this people are with the prosperity gospel and the blessings we have enjoyed. I never doctrinally agreed with that theology - but it was interesting to discover just how much of it was actually a part of how I expected YAH to work.
If the Apostle Paul could express fear over the endurance of faith, given what was to come against the churches he visited and wrote to - I am not expressing anything different than he did.
Bewilderment defined.
ETA: Same applies to #120