Be Not Afraid

I never thought of myself as the "fearful" type. I am a worrier, to be sure. I fret, and stew, and use a lot of time, effort and energy on the "what ifs." And I'll freely admit to being afraid of heights, bridges, tunnels, and certain insects, big ones with mandibles of death, as "Calvin and Hobbes" would say. Surely I'm not alone there.

Then the Holy Fool published this piece on fear. He reminded me that
We fear for what we will lose.
And that fear deprives us of joy. It pillages us of peace. It shatters our confidence in life. It erodes our trust in God--our very Faith.

That was a revelation to me: fear is actually a lack of faith. And I'm not talking about bugs here--but all those "what ifs" that I worry over.

Part of the miracle of Easter is that Jesus showed us that we need not fear so much. How many times in Scripture do we see the words, "Be not afraid"--even when those times seem to be times when fear is a natural response? Even Easter, a joyful event, must have inspired fear in the disciples and others. Yet at Easter Christ won the victory for us! As the Psalmist wrote, "Cast your cares upon the Lord, and He will sustain you" (Ps. 55:22)

Sometimes it's easier to hang onto the fears, even though they are uncomfortable, because they are familiar, than to let go and let the Lord take over. But that is exactly what we are called to do.

Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24)