Your heart pounds so loudly you can’t hear yourself think; you want to run but your feet are encased in lead. Every hair on your body stands up and your flesh ripples with goose bumps. Your chest is tight and it’s hard to breathe. Your thoughts are chaotic; it’s tough to focus, to think, to figure out what you should do next…
No, you’re not the hero or heroine of a horror movie, you’re just experiencing… real life. As we approach fall, the thriller/slasher/horror movies are filling the channels of our T.V. Many enjoy watching this type of genre – they want the thrill of fear as the actors on the screen plead for their lives and let our blood-curdling screams. They head to haunted house attractions where they are grabbed and chased by masked men with chainsaws. After their hearts settle down, they head home – a safe place for most, a house or apartment where they can relax and breathe easy – or so they think.
But all of us, at some time or another, will feel the sharp dagger of fear as it stabs our heart. A diagnosis of cancer, a job layoff, or a spouse saying I don’t love you anymore. In an instant, the emotion which delights Satan most runs through our veins and paralyzes us.
Halloween is not the season of fear – the real scary season is every day living devoid of a God who loves you and brings love and peace into your life. Living a life at the mercy of the evil one, who lives to seek an opportunity to fill you with fear, will literally suck the life out of you.
Speaking as one who lived the first 39 years of my life without a relationship with Jesus, fear controls you. You may be immobilized with worry and crippling fear – is my husband faithful? Will there be a world for my children to grow up in? Will I have enough money to pay this month’s bills? It steals your sleep, your health and your peace. Or, the other emotion fear brings – is flight. You can become so afraid of loving someone or losing someone – or something, that you would rather leave first or live without, depriving yourself of joy and love because you fear loss.
But a life in Christ can and should be a life without fear. When you trust in Jesus, you have faith in the protection, provision and amazing grace of Christ. The peace that passes understanding is real; it’s alive and it’s a tangible; a visible shield which guards your hearts and minds. Coming up out of the waters of baptism did not just cleanse me from sin but cover me in peace. The more I trust in God, the greater his peace shields me. I can live without fear through Christ who strengthens me.
C.R. Noble 