Peace, Friends!
What are you most afraid of? I’m not talking so much about phobias like spiders or snakes, but rather the big things in life. Would you take a moment and let me know. Here’s a link to a survey.
Since my son, Micah John, was born on November 27th, I’ve been thinking about what an awesome gift he is, but I’ve also been thinking about fear a little more than usual lately. There are a lot of things I’m afraid of about being a new dad. Can I provide what this child needs? I’m not so much thinking about money here. But rather, will I be able to give my son all the love he needs to thrive? Will I be able to nurture his spiritual life so that he comes to a place of knowing, loving, and serving Jesus Christ? Will I have any energy left at the end of a work day or week to give to my son? Or will I be a distant father? What will he think of me as he grows up? I want to be a super dad, but contemplating these questions causes me a lot of super fear.
I take some comfort whenever I watch movies about super heroes. Have you ever noticed that super heroes aren’t always fearless? Sometimes they have quite a bit of fear. They just chose to do what’s right rather than run from the fear (at least most of the time). That’s what makes them super. It’s called courage. Courage isn’t the lack of fear. Courage is doing what is good even in the face of fear.
If you’re like me, then you too have some fears creeping around in your life. So what are we to do with fear? Are we stuck being afraid for the rest of our lives? Shouldn’t fear go away when we become Christians? I don’t think so, but as we grow in faith we grow in courage, courage to live out the life that Jesus calls us to live, courage to do good even when we’re afraid, and courage to be the people we were created to be.
These are the kinds of questions we’ll be exploring in our Christmas series called Courage: Do Not Be Afraid. We’ll look at the kinds of things that we fear and how our faith in God helps us overcome those fears with courage. After all, as we celebrate Christmas, what could be more courageous than the God of all creation taking on the life of a baby born in a manger? Now that’s what I call super-natural! Who do you know that needs to hear a message like that? Go ahead. Be courageous and make sure to invite them!
Peace,
Tom
P.S. Don’t forget to tell me what you’re most afraid of? Here’s a link.
Recent Comments