Deuteronomy 31:6 – Penny Zeller

There is a lot to fear these days. At every turn, there is something to cause our hearts to panic, our thoughts to veer toward despondency, and our minds to wrestle with the “what-ifs”. At any given moment, trepidation hunkers down for a permanent residency deep within our spirits.

Those who lived in previous generations will tell you that this isn’t the first time the world has been in a state of turbulent unrest, chaos, and fear. The Civil War, WWI, WWII, famines, and The Great Depression were terrifying. The unparalleled horrors of the Holocaust and Rwandan and Cambodian Genocides are examples of the evil and darkest side of humanity.

Things can seem bleak right now. On top of current events, there are also the “regular” things to fear: losing a loved one, cancer, debilitating diseases, severe chronic illness, fear of losing one’s job and/or home, fear of the continual loss of freedoms, and the list goes on.

We watch before our very eyes the horrific murder of the innocent preborn (as I type this blog, the count is at 1,623,765,300 abortions worldwide since 1980). We hear of the 245 million Christians who are persecuted every year (and 4,136 killed every year for their faith). And the the approximately 4.8 million women and children who are sex-trafficked each year.

All of these things are frightening and remind us that the world we live in is far from perfect. And will never be perfect. It will never be a utopia, no matter how much one might wish it to be so.

But to spend time dwelling on such statistics can send us into a spiraling state of despair.

A state we were never supposed to reside in.

Life is short. Life is frail. And life is precious.

And for those of us in Christ, this is just a momentary stop on our way to spending eternity with our Savior. So as we continue on in this journey, may we find peace and rest in the arms of our Lord through the life-changing scripture found in His Word. May we allow it to sink deep within our hearts and minds so the next time fear comes knocking at our door, we can confidently turn it away.

May we remember to surrender our fears to Him minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day.

May we remember that nothing can take away the peace that comes with the assurance of Salvation.

This world is temporary.

The fears we have in this world are also temporary. But eternity is forever.

Before you go, check out these other posts:

conquering the joy zappers of lif e

lessons from the garden

the video camera is always on, part 5

15 verses for strength in challenging times

w hat to stock up on this winter

who are you behind the screen?

6 suggestions for getting through the rough times in life

As a kid, I remember after a long day of playing outside, I came in and turned on the TV. Flipping through our three channels, I came across a black-and-white re-run of The Twilight Zone. Intrigued, I watched it for a few minutes. While it never became my “cup of tea” to watch continuously due to the fact I’m not a sci-fi/fantasy fan (although 3 out of 4 Zellers are) and I watch, read, and write only stories with happy endings, the show stuck with me.

All these years later, it feels as though we have stepped into the Twilight Zone. Things are just bizarre. It leaves me wanting to change the channel.

Things are scary right now. Our nation is in turmoil, a crisis that leaves (if we’re honest) even the most faithful with a moment or two of uncertainty. When we return our focus to Him, we are reminded of a few key things:

God is bigger than all of this. Bigger than nefarious evildoers, communism, socialism, hatefulness, division, wars, diseases, illnesses, viruses, and all the other truly frightening things in this world. And He always walks with us through those daunting times.

He was not caught off guard. God wasn’t asleep or having afternoon tea on the patio when these frightening events began to unfold. To the contrary, He knows all that has occurred and will occur throughout history.

We are here for such a time as this. Just as Esther was placed in her role to help her people, we are placed in our role at this precise time in history. Sure. I think it might be neat to have lived in the late 1800s/early 1900s, or another time period, but that’s not where God has placed me. Or you. We are here through Divine appointment. He never makes a mistake or bemoans the fact that He allowed us to be born when we were born, rather than 10 years, 100 years, or even 1,000 years earlier.

Jesus gave His life for us. Time may be short, or He may tarry for another 400 years. No one knows except God. But before He returns, we have our work cut out for us in the here and now. To tell others about the saving faith found only in Jesus Christ and the eternal life they can have when they put their faith and trust in Him. To love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Yes, even those challenging “neighbors”.

We need to be an encouragement to each other. In the past couple of weeks, I have seen some discouraging folks out and about bringing others down, rather than building them up. Instead of spewing hateful rhetoric or division, let’s rally around each other and support each other. And never, ever forget how important fellowship is (Hebrews 10:25).

He is our Protector and our Refuge. Seek Him and rest in Him.

There is a happy ending. For those of us in Christ, it ends well. I’m personally not keen on what may be an arduous and troublesome journey between here and the end when I see my Savior face-to-face, but as Christians, He promises to go before us, be with us through the journey, and to carry us safely home when our time on this earth is done. Hopefully, that’s decades away for all of us, but we do have that reassurance that this story has a happy ending.

So, my friends, hang in there. Keep your focus on Christ and know that if He is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?

Before you go, check out these other posts!

13 verses to comfort the weary soul

13 ways to help someone goin g through a rough time

10 ways to help your kids choose good role models

who are you behind the screen?

the importance of gratitude

Movie Monday: Indivisible