I've been thinking a lot lately about the tension between fear and faith.
A dear friend got some very bad news yesterday. Another is waiting for a doctor's report next week. I want to be full of faith for them and their situation, but fear is doing it's best to have it's way in my heart and mind.
If you watch the news, you'll know that ISIS is doing it's best to create fear by executing Christians for their faith.
The fear of terrorism (which is all about creating fear...) has impacted government, social and transportation policies throughout the Western world. Our freedoms and personal privacy are slowly eroding away because of the fear of what a few might be capable of doing.
How do you live a life of faith in a world where the fear of what might happen is ever on the rise?
At our recent MLA Prayer Breakfast, our speaker said this: 'We cannot let fear dominate our politics.' I agree completely. I would take it one step further and say that we cannot let fear dominate our everyday lives.
The antidote to fear isn't higher walls, bigger guns, better drones or more cameras. The antidote to fear is always faith. Everyone has faith in something or someone. The Western world is putting it's confidence in military strength and prowess, tech based 'intelligence' gained through sorting through countless emails, phone calls, 'chatter' and Terrabytes of video gained through the ever present cameras. Terrorists have placed their faith in their ability to create chaos through their words and actions. I am confident that both of these options will ultimately fail. Despite our best work, those committed to instilling fear in the hearts and lives of good and free people, will find some success. At some point, those same good and free people are going to grow weary of hyper security and the growing loss of freedoms and privacy and make a clear and concious decision to step away from being dominated by fear and choose again to live in freedom, in spite of what terrorists may choose to do.
Fear is exhausting financially, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Fear robs us of peace. Fear doesn't come from God. God gives us power, love and a sound mind so that we can overcome the power of fear in our lives. Fear lives in our imagination and is mostly False Evidence Appearing Real. Those who overcome fear in the very core of who they are have learned to focus their hearts, minds and lives on the ONLY ONE who cannot and will not fail them. His name is Jesus. The Prince of Peace!
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