Fear

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1 NIV)

There is more to be afraid of in this world than ever before in my lifetime:  sending our kids to school, going to work at a job where anybody has ever been fired or treated (in their mind) unfaily, letting our children play outside unsupervised, going to any event that draws large crowds, going to the mall, driving in this age where drivers are paying more attention to their phones than their driving, going to an airport.  There are even churches where members come armed for fear of a random shooter storming into worship.

I have had people try to instill fear in me by telling me I should carry pepper spray, or I shouldn't hike alone, or I should get a flu shot, or I shouldn't get a flu shot. The media makes us afraid to drink our water or eat vegetables that come from a supermarket or eat meat or eat carbs or drink coffee or soda.

It's all enough to make you want to stay in bed with the covers pulled up over your head, but I'll bet there is something dangerous about that too.  Life is risky.  We never know when something bad is going to happen and none of us are immune.  We should all procede with a certain amount of caution in our lives, but the only way to protect ourselves completely is to stop living.

In over half a century of life, I've lived through my share of scary things.  I know people who have lived through much worse than I have and others who haven't known half the pain I have.  It all seems very random and unfair.  But these things I've learned:  Life goes on.  God provides.

God provides what we need, rather than what we think we need.  Sometimes, God simply provides another person with whom to share our pain.  And in the midst of whatever scary stuff we've found ourselves, we discover that, even though it is painful, it was never anything to be afraid of.  Pain is a part of living.  Fear keeps us from living.  I've heard it said that fear is simply an absence of faith.

Don't be so afraid of life that you don't live.  God never meant for us to be afraid, even in times like these.  Will bad things happen?  Yes.  But God will be there too.

Father,
There is so much to be afraid of in our world today.  Give us courage.  Give us faith.  Amen.