No Fear

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“No Fear”

             There are so many phrases that come to mind when you hear, “No fear.”  Some are, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.”  Or how about, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  If you’re a golfer, “Short putts never drop!”

             In his 1933 inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt said these opening words: “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.”  He was coming into office in the midst of the Great Depression.  The country was gripped in fear, many not knowing what the future held or where their next meal was coming from, for that matter.  There had to be a plan devised to overcome the fear of the country, but also the fear the world might soon be in its second world war in as many decades.

             Fear can be described as our minds rewinding events from our past that didn’t go very well and comparing the events before us with those historic outcomes.  Plainly spoken, it didn’t work out well then, so it won’t work out well now!  I must ask, why not?  What is different now than in the past.  Are we wiser?  Are we more educated?  Are things really, exactly as they were in the past?  If we compared every event before us with ones which have occurred in the past, we would be in a constant state of turmoil and anxiety.  We would play the “What if” game every single day!

             Jesus moved through this world, never playing the “What if” game.  He was on a mission to reach as many people as He could in the few short years He knew He had.  He never backed down from that mission, even considering some of the circumstances weren’t in His favor.  Take for example the miracle of raising His friend Lazarus from the dead.  He had just left Jerusalem where the Pharisees tried to stone Him to death.  He and the disciples slipped out of town and camped on the eastern side of the Jordan River.  When word came to Jesus that His friend was extremely sick, He waited.  A few days later, Jesus announced He was going back to Bethany to see His friend.  The disciplines complained vigorously.  John 11:8 says, “But Rabbi, a short time ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”  After much discussion, it was the one who would be labeled as Doubting Thomas who would speak up and say, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

             In events that may seem hopeless or an outcome has already been determined (in our own heads), taking Jesus with us can change things dramatically.  Whatever you may go through today, I assure you, if you have Christ in your heart, the outcome may just be miraculous.