Living in Fear?

Living in Fear?
Sunday, September 17, 2023 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Contemporary issues / Hope in Christ / Thought for Today

I am taking a few days off, for the first time in a very long time. As such, I was intending to visit another church this morning (Family Church here in Sutherlin). I never made it.

As many of you know, I have severely limited eyesight. I also live in a fairly small town that doesn’t have nearly the same degree of problems and lawlessness compared to major cities (though as elsewhere, those are increasing).

So, why didn’t I make it to the church and that service? I got to within a few hundred feet of the church and encountered a snarling growling dog. It was large enough and close enough to where I was that even I could see it. It was clear that it could easily jump the low fence that was containing it if it chose to do so. My only safe course of action was to retreat back the way I came. Worse, that dog’s barking and snarling ignited others, and as I retreated, other large dogs joined the chorus (didn’t see any of them, but they were nearby).

I suspect a few things could be in play. First, drug sales/usage is way up due to legalization of cannabis and other substances in Oregon. Growers and dealers are downright nasty with how they go about their business.

Secondly, for numerous reasons, I suspect people around here are living in greater fear, given the increased lawlessness. As a result, people will have nasty dogs for their own protection and out of fear for what might happen.

Luke 21:25–26: “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” (NAU)

1 John 4:18: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (NAU)

Not only does Luke 21:25–26 paint a terrible picture of how bad things are going to get, but we also see that fear is related to punishment. We are faced with ever mounting fear coming two fronts: fear of how increasing lawlessness from the outside may impact us, and fear of punishment form within.

Every one of us knows full-well that we’ve done all sorts of things that deserve punishment, things that God calls sin. There is only one solution: Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for those sins. He is the only means of salvation, the only antidote if you will, for our otherwise incurable sin problem. The good news is, as Romans 5:8 states, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (NAU)

The result is peace; we have grace and peace from God, peace the world does not know (but desperately needs), a peace that many of the New Testament epistles remind us of. As believers, we may suffer greatly in the times that are coming—Jesus even said that we would have tribulation in this world—but our hope, peace, and security aren’t found in this world, but in the Eternal God, through faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

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