AMID OUR STEALTHY FEARS
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While we can expect to experience suffering, disease, and trouble from time to time in our lives, many of these human realities strike us suddenly.
Appearing with little warning, they feel like they have crept up on us in the dark, come as a shot from out of the blue, or have taken hold of us with the silence of a virus. Although they come upon us with stealth, an accident, an attack, a medical event, or a bad diagnosis can shake our lives, our families, and our faith when they hit us.
The fragility of our lives, whether our own or of those we care about, of our well-being, and of so much of what we take for granted can cause big questions and real anxiety. But God knows and sees these stealthy threats to us and our lives as clearly as He knows and sees the more obvious ones. The Bible acknowledges the fears that we have about the uncertainty, frailty, and seemingly ephemeral nature of our lives, and God is portrayed as the source of strength, courage, and refuge amid these dangers. “His faithful promises are your armor and protection” (Psalm 91:4, NLT). In our inevitably finite lives, we cannot rely only on finding strength or mustering courage within ourselves because our selves—as much as anything or anyone else in the world around us—will ultimately let us down. It is God who offers us hope and courage beyond our human limitations: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’ ” (Psalm 91:1, 2). So we will not fear.
