What If I Weren't Afraid?

What if you had nothing left to fear?

I’ve been wondering how often we decide to do something or to avoid a particular thing because we are afraid. I read a book recently that encouraged me to keep asking the question, "What would I do if I were not afraid?"

Terror has become a common feature of American life. No one knows where or when the next strike could happen on American soil. Bridges, government buildings, shopping malls, communities, anyplace could be a target. We used to feel powerful. We used to feel safe from enemy invasion. Now nearly anybody could sneak across borders and destroy all that we enjoy.
What I wonder will happen on the West coast? Tornadoes in California? I didn’t think they got those. Has there ever been a Tsunami as devastating as the one that recently hit Asia? Tsunami wasn’t even a word that most of us used until the beginning of this year? What’s next? Tsunami hits America? Earthquake in the Midwest?

The news recently expounded on the growth of hate groups in the U.S. These are clubs of people that hate . . . I think they hate other groups of people, and want to drive them out, hurt or kill them. Am I safe from them.

I don’t even need to speak of domestic policy issues such as social security, job losses, and violence in our schools. Where and when will the next school shooting be? When I was growing up, school was a safe place.

Isn’t there some way we could be safe again? Some way we could be in control of our lives again?

The answer is no and yes.

Truth is we are never in control, and we never have been safe on our own. There never was a good-old-day. Violent men have always used aggression to have their way. Oppressive organizations have forced their will upon communities from the early days of our nation and throughout the world. Abuse and manipulation are not inventions of the twentieth or twenty-first centuries.

On the contrary, A September 9th, 2002 USA Today headline cheered, "Violent crime rate in America continues steep decline" An October, 25th, 2004 CNN headline also mentioned "crime in the United States dropped 3 percent last year, continuing the downward trend in the nation's crime rate over the past decade, the FBI announced".

So why am I so afraid?

I believe that one of the keys is that in America Christians have become more and more distant from the living impact of God’s word. Most Christians believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, true in every way. Unfortunately they believe it in the same way they believe that in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I consider the existence of Columbus a fact, but it has no impact on my attitude, actions or relationships. In the same way I believe that we’ve allowed our belief in scripture to be divorced from whatever it is that drives our attitudes and actions.
II Corinthians 5:7 says, "We live by faith, not by sight." (NIV translation)

The impact here is that regardless of circumstances in which we find ourselves, our lives are based on unyielding beliefs in God’s goodness and love. We can go into the world without fear, because we believe that nothing can come into our lives without God allowing it. When tragedy strikes we can approach God and say, I’m hurt, I’m confused, but I’m also convinced that you only allow things in my life that are for my best and for your glory.

If I’m living by sight, then I’m also living by what I can control. I can barely control events that come up in my daily life. I know I can not control world events or the destiny of other people. If I live by sight, then this world and this moment are the focus of my life and the center of my worship. If I live by site, I am doomed to live in disappointment and fear, because this world is falling apart, burdened in sin, and destined to face God’s judgment.

Living by faith means that I act upon the belief that God’s word and eternal plan are more significant and powerful than any event or circumstance that I may face. If I’m living by faith, I’m also believing that this present age is a tiny slice of nothing; a mere moment, compared to the endless joy of eternity. Just as I dislike my bimonthly allergy shot, I know that it is for the best, and it is only a momentary pain. That is how God sees our brief span on this earth. When I live by faith I will strive to view my life in the same way.

Living by faith comes by prayer, and by deciding to live by God’s word even when I’m afraid to. Living by faith may require enduring some very tough times, but the result is like that of Gold refined in the fire: A life more beautiful, refined and pure: fit for God’s glory and eternal purpose.