Afraid

2 Corinthian 4:13-18 – “It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

I have run into a lot of people who are afraid.  Not all fear is bad; fear motivates us to do certain good things (i.e. fear of the cold motivates us to chop wood).  It says in Proverbs 1:7 that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

People are afraid of a lot of things.  I checked lists on the internet and talked to people and I believe our overriding fear today is the “fear of living”.  With the advent of easy and accessible, abundant minutia and trivial information, we are worried and afraid of everything.  We are raking leaves wearing protective helmets—come on!

Do you travel anywhere without your cell phone?  If you did, how would you feel?  How did we travel before?  I am not against cell phones but in many ways it makes us “worry warts.”  Studies on the internet tell us it is healthy to eat nuts…wait, wait here is another study that says don’t eat nuts!  We twist in the wind.  Which way is it?  Should I eat nuts or shouldn’t I eat nuts?  Don’t worry, we’re all nuts so who cares?

We will have adversity in this life.  We are fearful when we have a lot of decisions to make; sometimes we will make proper decisions, other times not. Guess what, fear is a normal part of life.  Go forward, get involved, pursue a mighty calling, do a simple act of love—whatever.  Our joys will be mingled with tears, laughter, and pain.  Don’t live a fearful, shriveled life. 

Zephaniah 3:17 says, “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Be alive—dance; God is with us.