Mouse Power

Bulletin

Dan Peters
04/23/23 - Fear

Once her husband died she continued to smoke. Her husband had also tried to quit several times and was down to just a few cigarettes a day. He listened to the experts on how to quit, and investigated programs on how to stop. He passed away about the age of 74, still a smoker. His wife continued to smoke. Not her children, not her husband, not the experts were able to convince her to stop. She then moved to an apartment complex that allowed smoking. Her daughter told her that she would not come over to help, unless she smoked outside.
She had but one small balcony to go out and smoke. About the age of 82 she saw a mouse out on her balcony. That did it. She was so scared of the mouse, she never went out again. From a teenager to 82 years old, a smoker. But the smoker was no power for the mouse, or at least her fear of the mouse. This is a true story.
After reflecting on it over the past week, I thought about how this illustrates our walking in the fear of the Lord.
Most of us are not so afraid of a mouse, but she was. I think her fear was misplaced, but her fear actually helped her. In a similar way, fear of the Lord can be helpful according to the apostle Paul, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…”(2 Corinthians 5:10-11). Paul’s fear of the Lord made him stay away from sin, plus it motivated him in helping others to stay away from sin. Fear of the Lord makes us walk in the will of the Lord.
We are sinners from our teenage years (Gen. 8:21). Sometimes we are sinners all our life and never stop. But some will see the power of the cross. They perceive God’s displeasure of sin, plus his love for mankind. This has the power to transform sinners to saints, from perverts to purity, and from rebels to righteousness. Mouse power to stop us from sinning, sorta speak.
Don’t tell Jesus, show him. This is what Jesus wants. Actions speak louder than words. “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.” (Acts 3:26). The blessing is in turning. Believe to the point of fearing. Repent of being a sinner. Confess his name to all. Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38). After this, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42).
Dan Peters