We all have fears that we live with everyday. During the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I talked with a LOT of people about the fear of this virus that we knew virtually nothing about. Was it going to be largely fatal? Was it going to be highly communicable? Was it going to be like the Spanish flu of 100 years ago? We didn’t know what we didn’t know, so many of these fears were rooted in the unknown. And even though it wasn’t as bad as most of us were afraid it was going to be, it has still really affected all our lives to some extent, even if only how we interact with others.
God’s Word tells us to be wise, but not to live in fear. Why? Because if God is truly sovereign, there is no ultimate path for this world than the one that God allows. Is it the one we would choose? Unclear. What about when people die? What about when children have terrible disease like cancer or something else? What is clear, is that we live in a fallen world. Our hearts know that there is something wrong with this world, but what we long for cannot be fulfilled here.
But fear is not the answer. The worry and anxiety it brings serve only to undermine the joy that we have in Christ. FDR told us “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” But I think it is more helpful to observe that “if God is for us, than who can be against us!” [Rom. 8:31]