Do Not be Afraid
Your email inbox is out to get you. I mean that quite literally—the intent of much of the correspondence sent to you is to grip you with fear. If you don’t believe me, scroll through the recent subject lines from your trusted news and information sources, and you will undoubtedly find all manner of alarmist and fear-based subject lines like:
“UNDER ATTACK!”
“THEY ARE OUT TO GET YOU!”
“EVIL!”
“IT’S ABHORRENT!”
“IT’S YOUR LAST CHANCE!”
If you are to believe your inbox, it is time to panic. To be very candid, your ability and mine to faithfully walk out the mandate of the Gospel will depend on how we respond to this barrage of messaging telling us to be afraid—to be very, very afraid.
First, why is the above true? Why is it that a huge portion of news and information sources consistently lead with fear-based messaging?
It is true because it works! Fear-based messaging drives click-through, and increases engagement. A friend recently put it this way to me: “You need a good bogeyman to get people to engage.”
My friend, we can cry foul all we want about the constant alarmist messaging around us, but it will continue as long as it continues to work. You and I have the power to change this reality by proactively deciding to avoid engaging with fear-based tactics (and then acting on that decision). Trust me, the news and information sources will provide more of whatever is working, and fear-based messaging is what many of us are currently rewarding.
But why, you might ask, should The Equipped community be so convinced this fear-based approach is harmful? After all, it is rooted in something that is certainly true—the world around us is hostile to the Truth, and therefore hostile to those of us who are committed to it (Matt. 10:22). So why shouldn’t you be appropriately afraid?
Are you ready for this, friend? I truly believe it is one of the most critical truths for you and me to take hold of—and to live from. Why should you resist fear with the greatest of intensity?
Because Jesus told you directly, clearly, and repeatedly, “Do not be afraid!”
Do you feel alone?
God says, “Do not be afraid—I am with you” (Is. 41:10).
Are others out to get you?
God says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Josh. 1:9).
Are your enemies conspiring against you?
God says, “Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut. 31:6).
Do the circumstances of life seem too difficult?
God implores you to say, “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Ps. 118:6).
Is it difficult to believe your God is greater than the very real and visible storms in your life?
Jesus says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Matt. 14:22).
Finally, when Jesus rose from the dead, what were the first words of the one dressed in white to the women who were looking for Jesus?
“Don’t be alarmed . . . You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here” (Mk. 16:6).
My friends, it is one of the most repeated commands in scripture. You are simply not to be afraid. Further, it is not the absence of evil that empowers this command. In fact, implicit in every one of the commands above is the presence of evil. Your inbox is correct on this one narrow fact: Evil is real, and you are its target!
But every Jesus follower should hear and take seriously the command of Jesus that much of the messaging in your inbox will intentionally omit. Jesus, because of a power greater than all that comes against you, says plainly to you today:
“Do not be afraid.”
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.