HOW THINGS OUGHT TO BE

It can be hard to imagine a world without fear.

Fear is such a part of our world and our human experience that it seeps into even our best imagination. But a world of goodness without fear is the reality of our world as God made it. As God paused at the end of each act of creation, He saw that it was “good” (Genesis 1:3, 9, 12, 18, 21, 25). And near the end of that work, He saw that His completed world was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). It is worth pausing here with this God’s-eye view.

God had made something very good. Nothing in the whole of creation would cause harm or fear. Instead, everything worked together for mutual flourishing and, it seems, particularly for human flourishing. Within this new world, the first people were given the role of stewards. The first human responsibility was that of gardeners who were “to work” and “take care of” the garden (Genesis 2:15) and the good world God had made.

They were to work in harmony with, and even to grow, God’s intention for goodness, mutuality, and peace in the world. If we give this description enough of our imagination, it should prompt feelings of regret, perhaps a kind of homesickness for a world without pain, grief, and fear. But it should also alert us to the glimpses and echoes of this original design that we can still see in our world today. Acts of kindness and moments of peace, glimpses of beauty, and examples of creativity are all reminders of how God intended our world to be.

As seemingly insubstantial as a flower or a tiny bird or as difficult an act of service or sacrifice as we can imagine, as ordinary as a simple meal or as grand as a mountain range or ocean sunset—they point us back to their Creator and insist that a world without fear is not only possible but is intended and not beyond the reach of our imagination.