What Are You Afraid Of?

We each have the choice to live our lives in fear or to live our lives in faith.

Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.”

Are you afraid of cicadas? Not me. I kind of like the weird, big-eyed, screeching bugs. I like finding the shells stuck to trees in my yard. But if you live in Cincinnati the cicadas are a big problem right now.

A man was driving with his windows down and he approached a swarm of cicadas. One flew through the window and struck him in the face. He in turn struck a utility pole and totaled his car. He was not seriously injured for the safety belt and air bag worked just as they were designed. Upon investigation, the police released a statement advising drivers to drive with their windows rolled up. I hope everyone has air conditioning in Cincinnati.

You and I may not be afraid of cicadas, but I am sure we are afraid of other things. Most of us have been afraid for over a year with the COVID 19 pandemic.

We were afraid to touch the gas pump, shake hands, go outside, stay inside, go to church, the grocery store, or get together with friends and family. We were afraid to go to the park, the beach, or go fishing alone. We were afraid to go to work, so we stayed home and did video calls while wearing comfy pants and telling the kids to be quiet because daddy was working. We were afraid to hug our loved ones or stay in the same room with our pets because they could be carriers of the virus.

We wore masks, deep cleaned our homes, left our shoes outside, and washed our hands until there were no natural oils left in our fingers.

We are afraid of all kinds of things. Snakes, spiders, heights, the dark, closed in spaces, flying on airplanes, or riding roller coasters. We are afraid of our kids growing up and leaving the faith, not having a job, being homeless, doing drugs, having a bad marriage. We are afraid of cancer, dementia, getting fat, heart disease, or losing our hair. Life is full of fear!

What does God have to say about being afraid?

Isaiah 41:10 “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand.”

What or who is stronger than God? Nothing! No one! God promises to be there for us in all things. He tells us not to fear because He will give us strength, help, and will hold on to us.

I remember being a little boy and holding on to my dad’s hand. There was no point where I felt safer than when dad held my hand. He was the biggest and strongest man in the world. I wasn’t afraid of anything when he was around.

Isn’t that what God is saying? I am the biggest and the strongest and you have nothing to fear when I am around. And, oh yeah, I am always around.

Our God is sovereign. He is in charge. That doesn’t mean we always like what is happening to us. Sometimes we are placed in difficult situations. If there were not religious wars after the reformation, people of faith would not have fled to North America. That doesn’t justify religious wars, but it helps us understand why people would want to leave their homes in Europe.

Look at Romans 8:28 – “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

We may be afraid of bad things happening to us, and we know that bad things will happen to us. But God tells us that those things will always work out for the good of those who love Him. We become terminally ill, and a child accepts Christ. We lose a job and another is found so easily that we are certain God’s hand was in it. We suffer a heart-breaking end to a relationship only to find that person we had prayed for all along.

COVID has been terrible. Still, it brought some people back to their faith. It enabled some churches the ability to reach more people with the gospel message than ever before. It brought together the medical community in an effort to develop vaccines for COVID that may lead to great advances in the treatment of other diseases as well. Some parents are more in tune with their children’s education than ever before. Some discovered that working from home showed them how important their families are and they never want to give up that time away from them again.

Fear. It has no place in the life of a Christian for our God is with us. He supplies all. He protects all. And even if He doesn’t save us from the fire, He promises something far better in the life to come. What are you afraid of? Have you talked to Him about it? He died so He could hold your hand and pull you through the flames. Talk to Him. He’s here right now.