Aramaic Word Study – Relationship Fear – Dod  דוד Daleth Vav Daleth 

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When I Am Afraid, I Crawl Into God’s Heart

John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

“Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears.”  Rudyard Kipling

There is another virus coming down the pike called Omicron and already you can sense the fear rising.  Despite the latest report that Omicron is not lethal people are gearing up with fear.  Those who accept the reports that omicron is just a mild virus are fearful of another lockdown. Would their jobs survive another lockdown, would our economy survive another lockdown?  On top of that I overheard a woman in the supermarket say that she usually spends $300 on groceries and now she is paying $450.00. Inflation is sending many into a panic.  The woke culture is attacking Christianity and Christians are living in fear of losing their freedom.  This, on top of many other fears and for some reason Christians are forgetting John 14:23: I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”

In John 14:27, Jesus exhorted us to not let our hearts be troubled. The word trouble in Aramaic, the word Jesus used, is dachal which is the Aramaic word for depression.  Do not let your heart become depressed.  Fear is the greatest cause of depression. Then Jesus says: “Neither let it be afraid.”  An odd word is used for afraid.  It is the word dod which in Hebrew is the word for beloved.  It still means that in Aramaic but it did carry a little transformation on its journey from Hebrew to Aramaic. This is a fear you find in relationships.  It is the fear that the person you love will let you down.  Many marriages crumble when one fears that their partner is cheating on them.  They have no proof, just this gut feeling and it drives them crazy.

A true love relationship is built on trust and when that trust is betrayed, it is very difficult to win it back.  That betrayal will always pop up, it will always be there to haunt you. Some people are able to overcome and trust again, some are never able to trust again. They can’t trust again for they dod, fear they will be hurt again.

For Jesus to tell us we must not let our hearts be afraid or dod, what He is saying is: “Hey, you can trust me, I will never let you down. My love for you is perfect and perfect love will never betray you. What are  you so afraid of, I’m here beside you, I live in your heart. What more do you need to not be afraid?”

Many soldiers have gone off to war and left their beloved, dod, behind.  Yet, their heart is filled with dod. Fear that his beloved will not wait for him, will not be faithful.  He will never enjoy peace of mind.  Every letter he receives from his beloved is examined for poof that her love is not true. He will be taken over by that fear, it will consume him and he will not know peace. 

The word peace in Aramaic is shlama, in Hebrew it is shalom, in Arabic it is salam.  They all mean the same thing, surrender.  When you surrender your entire self to God you will have perfect peace, like that of a newborn baby in its mother’s arms, totally confident that it is protected and cared for.   

If a man and woman surrender themselves entirely to each other, they will have peace in their relationship. Love means to surrender yourself to someone. To expose yourself and make yourself vulnerable to that person. To be able to trust that person with the secrets of your heart knowing that person will never betray those secrets.  That person’s love for you drives away any fear you may have that this person will use that knowledge of your heart to hurt you. 

The example is given to us by God who has given us His heart when we gave Him our hearts. He makes Himself vulnerable to us.  He chooses to run the risk of loving us and the possibility that we will betray that love and break His heart.  Yet, God knows that He cannot experience total joy of love without that surrender or vulnerability. But can you imagine His heartbreak if we surrender our hearts to Him yet, we question His faithfulness? We face the next virus in fear, we face our job situation in fear, we face our finances in fear and God is saying; “But I promised that you would have peace in this uncertain world. Do you think I lied to you, do you think I have forgotten you?  Do you think I have stopped loving you?”  Just to question His love will do to Him what it would do to you if someone you love questions your faithfulness and love. It would break your heart, as it would break God’s heart. 

Like you, I have fears that creep up on me.  What will I do if I lose my job, I am too old to find another. Will I lose my apartment?  Will I be homeless? Will my health deteriorate to a point I could not longer write or study?  The enemy brings all these fears and so many more to my mind and I collapse under the weight of fear.  But then I crawl into the heart of God, I touch His love, a love which is always there, a love I have known since I gave Him my heart as a child and all I do is simply acknowledge that He loves me with that perfect love and my fears vanish, they are all lifted from for He has overcome the world and therefore so have I.

When I am afraid and  I know you grow tired of reading it but it is so very true, “Love lifted me. When nothing else could help, love lifted me.”

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