“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Matthew 10:31
Thirty years ago I wrote: “Fear is my apprehension in a frightening situation…But Jesus shields his own from what frightens us. He gives us peace in the midst of a storm or when the world seems against us. He commands us, in fact, not to fear when he is near.”
During that time I recommended a book called Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. I have read it several times in my life when I needed to hear “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
But I believe that there is much more to fear in our world today than there was 30 years ago. Who would have thought then that we would be afraid of:
- War with China
- Rampant crime in our streets
- Drugs like Fentanyl
- Human trafficking
- Schools that indoctrinate our children with sinful sexual behavior and hatred for our country
These things are very real but the answer to our fears is still the same: we need not fear when Jesus is near.
That does not mean that we do nothing about the things that frighten us. We are to do what we can to alleviate the fearful situations. For example, we can at least
- Vote for the leaders who will keep us out of war
- Support the police and obey the laws in our city
- Learn what we can about illicit drugs and make sure our children are not being tempted
- Warn our children not to talk to strangers
- Send our children to classical Christian schools or homeschool them using Rafiki curriculum
When we have done what we can, then we trust that Jesus is near and he will protect us.
I must confess that I am afraid of spiders and snakes and I’m afraid of death because death is an unknown. But when I begin to fear death, I say aloud the 23rd Psalm, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me.”
Do you have a relative or a friend who is afraid of death because they have not put their faith in Jesus Christ? If so, you can pray for them, but you can do more than pray. You can give them the good news—the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for them and rose again so that they can be with him forever.
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