I will not be afraid
I look at my peaceful Christmas village lit up with carolers on the steps of the quaint little steepled church, show sparkling on the tops of each quiet home. If you took a drive through my village, you might imagine that it is just as quiet and peaceful, the 50’s style railroad houses lined up along short streets by the baseball field and the old Catholic church. The old school right in the center of it all.
But that false sense of safety has been shattered lately. Even here, in small town midwestern America, things aren’t as perfect as they seem from the outside. And no matter where we live, we can not be sure of what might happen tomorrow. Drug dealers and manufacturers live down the street. Children with unnatural obsessions with Hitler go to our school. The darkness pervades everything and is lurking around every corner.
Blissful ignorance is often the source of peace, but with the events in Connecticut, we have been forced to realize that nothing in this world is completely secure. A man with an unstable psyche and a gun can ruin hundreds of lives in mere minutes. How do we allow our children to ride their bikes down the street when we aren’t sure if the house at the end of the road is full of criminals? How do we send our children to school when we can’t be sure of their safety?
Maybe every mother felt some sense of despair and heaviness after the horror of Connecticut’s shooting, but the terror and panic struck me hard. I’m a teacher a future principal, so I’ve spent the last month planning how to protect the children in our building. Unfortunately, there is no sure way to keep evil out of our lives. It is a part of this broken world we live in.
We try to protect our children by keeping them in our sight all day long, We don’t allow them to stay at so-and-so’s house or eat foods full of unhealthy ingredients. We give them flu shots and we rush them to the doctor as soon as there is a sign of some small illness. But there is a difference between taking healthy and wise precautions and living in constant fear.
I know. Fear is a gnawing ache in my stomach that paralyzes me and keeps me from accomplishing anything but worry. Fear creates panic because it feels like Alice in Wonderland falling out of control down the hollow tree into a world of confusion where nothing makes sense and everything seems chaotic, confusing and you just want to go home.
“But now, this is what the Lord says–he who created you O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
And the Word of God comes into my whirl wind of terror and settles everything back into place, because He reminds me I wasn’t in control in the first place. And the fact is, I was lost and confused, but I have been found and no matter where I am, I’m in God’s arms.
This world has always been full of evil, but God is still in control and no matter what happens, I trust Him. Circumstances can make me feel unstable and uncertain, but my spiritual reality will never change. I belong to Him, I live in Hm, I am His.
This is why I will not live in fear. I will not be afraid. I will not allow fear a place in my heart because perfect love casts out fear.
Are you struggling with fear today? Leave me a comment so I can pray for you.
Heather, great post! Yes we live in a society where fear is prevalent but the same God who calmed the sea can calm our fears. Im so thankful for His peace. Thanks for sharing.
Very apt and timely. Thank you so much for sharing this and how true. I have struggled with fear for most of my life so this is a real battle I can relate to. Bless you oodles. That verse from Isaiah is inscribed on a jewellry box someone bought me, I love it.
Wonderful post.