No Fear
Sometimes we are quick to overreact.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God. Acts 16:25-34
When the jailer thought the prisoners had all escaped he was about to kill himself, but later, after releasing them and inviting them into his home, he was no longer thinking he needed to commit suicide. What changed?
If the man was afraid he would be held accountable and possibly tortured for letting the prisoners go, what fate would he be dealt after releasing them now?
The threat hasn't changed, but the fear of it has.
This is what happens when we accept Jesus into our lives. Fear dissipates.
Our conditions may not immediately change, yet our approach to dealing with them does. And it is not mere acceptance, but more a form of defiance through increased courage. We know bad times will come. It is how the world works, and we know taking a stand for truth and love is not always popular. So, we act knowing God is with us.
We deal with what comes, knowing we are not alone, and the outcome will not destroy us.
What the body endures and suffers, the soul survives, with God's help.
In Christ there is no fear. So, we can live without sacrificing our faith.
That is the gift we have been given. To live fully without fear.
More to come...