Rainy afternoons always call for movie time when you’re a
kid, even if you’ve already watched the same one several times in a row.
I folded laundry as the kids watched Zootopia for about the
fifth time that week. In the movie the
animals live in a town but soon some of them begin going “savage” and Judy (a
bunny-cop) is trying to get to the bottom of it. There are some parts that are suspenseful but
just as can be expected, it has a good ending.
Judy solves the case, the bad guys are caught, and they all live happily
ever after.
“I’m scared! I’m
scared! I don’t like this part, it
scares me!” Jayden dramatically
announced as she has every time certain scenes play.
“But you know how it ends.
Why are you scared?”
“I know I do! It’s
creepy and it scares me! I’m scared!”
“You know what’s going to happen, you know the ending. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
As I continued folding laundry, this exchange replayed in my
head. But this time it wasn’t my
daughter announcing fear over a movie – it was our country, our world, announcing
fear over the condition it is in and our Father stating the Truth, reminding us
of the outcome.
Our generation is one ridden with fear. Some crouched in a corner afraid to make a
stand, and others standing with fear as their personal platform for
protest. At the root of it all is FEAR.
Most Christians are frozen with their jaws on the ground,
shaking their heads, caught up in disbelief.
We are letting the enemy further his ground as we let fear take grip on our
hearts. Out of fear we remain silent,
keep our light hidden under a bushel of worries and reasonings. Even better for the enemy is when we do just
the opposite and we speak up out of fear.
Doing this, we tear down one person after another as we point out sins
and position ourselves as judge. We are
quick to give our opinion on how God feels, what He’s doing, what He’s about to
do as though our minds can grasp such things.
Sure there are signs, there are things as Christ-followers we need to be
watching for, but not out of fear and shock – we are to be alert with a heart
that fully trusts a Father who already took care of the outcome.
The morning before the exchange with my girl, I was reading
in Genesis and happened to be reading about Sodom and Gomorrah.
“The two angels
arrived in Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the
city. When he saw them, he got up to
meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ‘My lords,’ he said, ‘please turn aside to
your servant’s house. You can wash your
feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning….
Before they had gone
to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom – both young and old-
surrounded the house. They called out to
Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex
with them.’… They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down
the door.” Genesis 19:1-11
When I read this, I stopped and re-read it to make sure I
had read it correctly. Every man, young
and old, came to have sex with the men… “Sodom
and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality
and perversion.” Jude 7
We are faced with a generation of issues: politics, homosexuality,
wars, protests, killing, lawlessness….
Is this exclusive to our generation? No. It’s
been going on since the fall of man, it’s where the human heart wanders when it
isn’t grounded in its Maker. It may be
new to us in our lifetime, but it’s not new to the Creator and All-Knowing
God.
He calls those who
follow Him to not stand with a fear-ridden heart, but to stand in the strength
of a rock-solid trust in having knowledge of how it ends!
“For God did not give
us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
2 Tim 1:7
This isn’t to say that the headlines won’t at times leave us
shocked and leave our hearts weeping, but they must not leave us paralyzed or
puffed up. When we struggle to understand,
we must find our peace in knowing the One who does understand. We must know that above all he calls us to
LOVE. To love our enemies, to pray for
those who persecute us, to extend grace to those we don’t consider deserving,
to be merciful to the sinner but not soft on sin.
“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the
sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to
bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Hebrews 9:28
When the enemy plagues fear on a nation, we need to rise as
an army of people who know the outcome, who find strength and comfort and peace
in the victory already received. When
our hearts are tempted to cry out that we are afraid, we need to hear the
Father’s voice telling us
“You know what’s going to happen, you know the
ending. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
