Ain’t Skeered!

by Dennis Strickland

While driving around in recent months, I have been seeing stickers on the back windows of trucks that say: “Ain’t Skeered!” It is not very difficult to determine what this means. To one speaking properly, the phrase would be: “I’m not afraid.” In various situations, many people have claimed they were not afraid. When I looked up “ain’t skeered” on the internet, I was only a little surprised to find out there was actually a song with this title on YouTube. There isn't much other information available on this phrase.

It has been my experience that those who usually make the boast that they are not afraid are the ones who are terrified of the thing or action being contemplated. For instance, the child who proclaims they are not afraid to sleep with the light off is likely the one who is afraid of “monsters” under their bed. The same is true of adults, in that often a “grownup” will sometimes feign bravery of something when they are really horrified by it.

Fear has been part of man's makeup since he was in the Garden of Eden. It is interesting to me that of all the things in the Garden, none caused Adam any fear until he had sinned against God. When Adam and his wife, Eve, sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened, they became aware that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together to hide themselves. In Genesis 3:9-10, we see that the first man and woman vainly sought to hide themselves from God because of that fear. "And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." Also, we should notice that it was not God Himself of whom they were afraid, but appearing before God in the knowledge of their nakedness. They tried to hide from God out of fear.

The Bible is full of examples of things people have done out of fear.

• Sarah lied in Genesis 18:15 and said she didn’t laugh when God promised her a son in her old age.
• Jacob, in Genesis 31:31, told Laban he stole away in the night with his wives and children because he feared his father-in-Law would take them by force.
• Later in Genesis 32:27, while returning home, Jacob was afraid of what his brother Esau might do, and divided his family and flocks into two bands so that part of them could escape if needed.
• Moses, in Exodus 3:6, when confronted with the burning bush, “hid his face for he was afraid to look upon God.” Upon hearing the thunder and rumbling from the mountain, the children of Israel were afraid to come before God and implored that Moses meet with God and then tell them what they were to do.

Space in this article will not permit the listing of all the occasions in the Bible where man was afraid, nor of that of which man has feared. But, it needs to be noted that not every time the word “fear” is mentioned is it a bad thing, nor should we expect “fear” to always have the same meaning each time it is used. In Ecclesiastes 12:13, the Spirit had Solomon write: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." None would think that to “be afraid” of God would be a duty of man. “Fear” in this place obviously means something else. Fear in this passage carries the idea to revere, or to stand in awe of God, and this verse also teaches that the duty of man is to keep (obey fully) the commandments of God. This reverence or “fear” for God is what is needed in the life of all who claim to serve God.

Even today, fear is used as an excuse, even when service to God is contemplated. Many a Christian man will not participate in public worship because of fear. Of what are they afraid, making a mistake? God knows that man is prone to mistakes, and how many among us ever accomplished anything without a mistake or two along the way? Those who do nothing out of fear accomplish nothing. Another way of saying this is that those who do not serve God because they are afraid are not serving God. That’s hard for many to accept, but it is true nonetheless. This world is full of many who do not have reverence for God and His Word. This is evidenced by the evil all around us and by the many who participate in it.

Matthew 10:28 is where Jesus said something that defines some fear as dread. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. We are to have no dread (fear) of those that can kill the body, yet have no control over what happens with our soul. On the other hand, we are to have dread about what God will do with a soul that is disobedient.

Ain’t Skeered? There are two ways in which all are to “fear” God: 1) Hold Him in reverence and do His Will as outlined in His Word. 2) Fear the fate of all who are disobedient. The latter part of Romans 12:19 tells us: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." He will repay at the end of time.

Think about it!