And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:27 ESV
Fear.
Fear is a very real problem in our world today. To be sure, we are living in crazy uncertain times. There’s a pandemic. There is questionable leadership worldwide. War. Fuel concerns. And every day, we’re all getting older, which brings each of us a unique set of fears and worries.
I’m not here to make anyone feel badly about their own fears…
On Tuesday I had a close encounter of my own. I was in the fitness center, sweating like crazy on the treadmill. My alarm went off, telling me it was time to go check the laundry in the next building over. So, off I went to move the clothes, hoping to not lose too much momentum along the way as I hoped to continue my workout. What I discovered was that the outside air was actually much cooler than the air inside the fitness center. So I moved the clothes from the washer to the dryer, and decided to set off on an outdoor run. As I was enjoying (translation: huffing and puffing and gasping for air) my run along the waterfront road, I saw up ahead that there was a bird. It was a large bird. It looked to be as tall as I am! I ran a few more steps toward it, thinking it would go on about its way and move, but instead it seemed to be staring me down, daring me to come closer. I made a quick left turn, and finished my run and my laundry without further incident.
All of that to say that I tend to be a bit of a coward at heart. This new addition to the wildlife encounters I’ve had on my runs over the years notwithstanding, courage is not my strong suit. In my head, I know that had I continued down my original path, Big Bird probably would have moved along, or even if he had stayed right where he was, I likely would have just run on past without incident. But in spite of that knowledge, I allowed fear to change my course.
I think this is a common theme in the world today. Many people are allowing fear to dictate their course in life.
I am among those people. I worry way too much. I don’t really worry about the pandemic, other than to be concerned at how a virus is being used to manipulate and control. But I worry about other things – my family, finances, incredibly large fowl…
But I serve a God who repeatedly tells me to, “Fear not!”
Life on earth is uncertain. It always has been. It always will be.
I do not know how many days the Lord has allotted me to live on this planet. What I do know is that I don’t want to waste a single one of them.
Fear wastes my time and energy. That’s why I’m trying to make a point of reminding myself to “fear not.”
I’d like to think that most people are just doing their best to respond to the scary happenings of the world today. I think that’s great. I believe that the Lord put brains in our heads and gave us the ability to think and reason so that we would apply those skills to life.
Instead of assuming that the people with whom we may disagree are ill-intentioned, what if we were to begin to operate from the place of believing the best in others? (I actually believe that most people who fall on the same side of the issues as I do are already taking this approach, but it is not reciprocated. I don’t know how we fix this, other than simply to pray for eyes and hearts open to the Gospel message.)
We just must always be careful that in our efforts to stand for truth that we stand in humility and compassion. We need not compromise, but we must be kind.
Life is risky.
Trust God.
And be careful.
…Just a thought…
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