You Don't Scare Me

Do you like things that bring fear? Are you easily frightened? Does the thought of things that go bump in the night cause you to hide under your covers? Are you scared by the unknown? Are you afraid of being afraid? Isn’t this what Halloween is all about; doing things that elevate our fears?

Simply put, I don’t like to put myself into situations that produce fear and that includes fear-filled movies, roller coasters or barrel rolls in airplanes. And, as a dad, I made it a point to not intentionally put fear in my children. I wanted them to not be afraid of what may or may not be ‘out there’.

It’s probably why I don’t celebrate Halloween. For me, there is enough ‘horror’ in this life that I don’t need or want to celebrate it. Just watching the average newscast you will find way too much that is overwhelming and painful or frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting and full of fear. No thanks, I’ve had enough and I don’t want to celebrate being afraid.

As a Christian, I’ve come to trust that either the Lord is in control or else He is not; period. So, I don’t allow fear to fill me with what might happen; especially for things that I can’t control like falling down or that an airplane could crash or that I might eat meat that is too rare or having a lightning bolt give me a lethal shock or dying…they don’t scare me!

 

I also would say that I don’t tend to back down from things that go bump in the night. Yes, I have a ‘healthy fear’ that prevents me from doing stupid things; but I don’t run away. This goes back to the days of my youth when I was told by an older neighbor kid to ‘hit the biggest kid on the other side and take his legs out’. The bigger they were the more I pressed in to taking them out! This was true for football as well as hockey.

My friends, we don’t need to be scared! We can believe the Word of God which tells us over and over again; “Don’t be afraid” and “Do not be terrified or dismayed”.  Why? Because “the Lord your God is with you…”

The Apostle John wrote it in the Bible;

 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

I love how the Apostle Paul wrote it in the Bible;

“So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians15:54-58 NKJV)

Today, this day, step out of the dredges of fear and what may happen. Celebrate life, not death. Stop letting things scare you and start enjoying what IS. Learn to trust in the Lord who is able to keep you from falling and deliver you from death.

 “For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God In the light of the living? (Psalm 56:13 NKJV)

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."