“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded” (John 10:17-18).
Tears immediately filled my eyes alongside everyone else when the news of the most recent school shooting hit my ears. The pain hits all of us, as shock waves are sent out from the epicenter of the pain our fellow brothers and sisters have been thrust into. There is evil in the world, and this is evidence of it. Evil intends to “kill, steal, and destroy” (John 10:10). How do we fight against it, without becoming distracted by division? Fear is an everyday emotion we are faced with. How do we fight it, without being numb to what’s happening all around us?
We fight lies with Truth, evil with Armor, and fear with Faith. In the apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy, he refers to God as, “God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). The apostle John recorded Jesus’ words: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). The thief is Satan; “I” is Jesus; “they” is us. We fight the everyday fears of this world with Jesus. He defeated the thief by His death on the cross and resurrection three days later. Our hope is in Him.
To fight the everyday fears we face, it’s important to understand the gravity of God’s love for us. He Created each of us with specific purpose, unique but equally loved by Him. Paul wrote, “Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?” (Rom 8:32). God is not far off. He is close. He draws us to Himself, and in each one of us He has placed a longing to know our Father in heaven. John wrote, “This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent us his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10). The love we have for our children on this earth is only a reflection of the love the Father has for us.
The way we fight our fears in our everyday lives is by running to the Father through Christ Jesus. When we give our lives to Him, He begins to shift our hearts and our perspective. We are able to see the world through His eyes, not the corrupt mirage of the thief. John recorded Jesus’ words:
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me” (John 15:1-10).
Our hope in this world expounds as we share the love of Jesus with others. As we remain in Him, we are compelled to tell of Him! This happens by the way we live our lives, and the way we love people. “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me,” Jesus said, “And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21).
To know Jesus is to embrace hope in a scary world. The blessings in our lives and the beauty of creation all around us can be blurred and blown by if we’re not careful to reset and root our minds in Truth. “Sometimes people wish they knew the future so they could prepare for it. God has chosen not to give us this knowledge. He alone knows what will happen, but he tells us all we need to know to prepare for the future,” The Life Application Study Bible explains. “God knows what will happen, and because he will be with us through hit all, we need not fear. We don’t have to know the future to have faith in God; we must have faith in God to be secure about the future."
The Holy Spirit helps us to fight the fears of our everyday lives. For all who believe and have given their lives to Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit – the third person of our Triune God – lives in them. The power of God literally resides in us, allowing us to put on the armor of God as we walk out into the world each day. The Holy Spirit is our Strengthener, Counselor, Advocate, and Comforter. He is with us always, allowing us to understand Scripture and apply it directly to our everyday lives. He makes us aware of the blessings around us and the beauty of Creation.
Fear is fought, in Christ Jesus. The apostle John wrote, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
Children of God, the Creator of the Universe and One who is sovereign and in control of every moment, who purposefully placed each of us in our generations, can be trusted. Trust in God fights fear. Trust in God not only calms our fears, but reaches out to those around us. We are called to love people, as we have been loved. Loving others, you guessed it, fights fear. We are better together. James, the brother of Jesus, wrote:
“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’ – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?” (James 2:14-26).
There are many Scriptures in the Bible which tell of God being close to the broken hearted, answering our prayers before we are done praying them, and hurting alongside us when we hurt. We are made in the image of God, and so He is not far off and unreliable even though He is sovereign over the universe! We are like Him. He feels what we feel, but is perfectly holy. Fear is a liar. “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body;” the apostle Matthew wrote, “they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
There is healthy fear, which strengthens and empowers us to walk out into the world and make a change for the glory of God. We are the peacemakers, placed purposefully to love people. Peace and love aren’t weapons which make sense to the world, but empowered by the Holy Spirit of the Living God, they are unbeatable.
Fear is very real in this world. Tragedies like the most recent school shooting we are all mourning are scary. It’s easy to let that fear lead us. But in Christ Jesus, we don’t have to; we follow Him. He holds and hugs us through the unthinkable, and comforts us as we seek answers which cannot be fully found this side of heaven. We are never alone in Jesus. We can be afraid, and bring our fears right to His feet. He will walk us through and out of that fear, over and over again, loving us completely for who we are, right where we are at.
“If you have not yet become a follower of Jesus, or still have real questions about him, ask God to reveal Jesus to you,” The Life Application Bible explains. “He could come to you through a friend, an insight from the Bible, an inner prompting in your spirit, or some other way. But He will come and reveal himself to you if you ask.”
Afraid? It’s OK. Don’t stay there. Ask for Jesus.
God Bless, and glory up.
Additional Resources:
The Life Application Study Bible.
New Tyndale House Publishers. Copyright 2019
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Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Bulat Silvia
Meg writes about everyday life within the love of Christ at megbucher.com. She is the author of “Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,” “Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,” “Glory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise,” “Home, Finding Our Identity in Christ,” and "Sent, Faith in Motion." Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University but stepped out of the business world to stay home and raise her two daughters …which led her to pursue her writing passion. A contributing writer for Salem Web Network since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team at Salem Web Network. Meg loves being involved in her community and local church, leads Bible study, and serves as a youth leader for teen girls.