Fear Not!
“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6
My father was a Colonel in the United States Army, and when I was a boy of 12, my family moved to Frankfurt, Germany. I visited many countries in Europe, including France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and Italy. I learned to snow Ski at Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps and water ski on lake Geneva. It was an incredible experience. I was extremely fortunate. However, I lived almost constantly in a state of fear.
In 1968 we were in the middle of the Cold war with the Soviet Union. On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops in an invasion of Czechoslovakia. I remember the night that I heard my dad get a phone call, and he immediately got dressed in his Army fatigues, put on his sidearm, grabbed his combat helmet, and left in the staff car that came to pick him up. I ran to ask my mom what was going on, and she told me that we might be going to war with Russia. I was terrified. What would happen to my dad? What would happen to us? I was so afraid. Dad came home the next day and reassured me that we were safe. For the next two years, any time my parents left the house, I was a frightened little boy. I had no peace and no assurance that I would be safe. I could not wait to get back to the States. Once I was back, I felt safe and was not afraid about the commies coming to kill my family or me. The threat was no less. It was just my state of mind that changed.
As Christians, we have far more security than just living in the United States of America away from those who would do us physical harm. We have the promise from God that we belong to Him for all eternity, and we do not need to live in fear of losing this life because nothing can harm us outside of God allowing it to happen.
Yahweh is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strong defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? Psalm 27:1
Your shepherd, Pastor Mark
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