Our son Caleb had just turned one when Elizabeth Smart was abducted. If you remember, she was a 14-year-old girl at the time, and she was taken right out of her bedroom by a man and his wife who made young Elizabeth his “wife”. I remember thinking, “If someone can break in and kidnap a 14-year-old girl out of her house in an affluent Salt Lake City neighborhood, what’s to stop someone from kidnapping my beautiful 1-year-old boy out of our little house in Pekin, IL?”
I couldn’t sleep. My fear woke me up repeatedly. Upon waking throughout the night, I would dutifully get out of bed and go check his crib to make sure he was still there. As I entered his bedroom, my eyes would always go first to his window, half expecting it would be broken in and he would be gone. After making sure that he was safely sleeping (and still breathing), I would go back to bed, only to awaken sometime later in the night and repeat the process all over again. Sometimes, driven by my fear, I would check on him 3-4 times a night.
Fear is a powerful force. It can be a powerful motivator to act.
These days I notice almost daily that fear is a powerful tool that people use to try to manipulate me to give to their cause, buy their product, vote a certain way, or act in a way that they want me to act. What is particularly frustrating to me is that Christian organizations tell me I’m supposed to be afraid of Muslims, homosexuals and Democrats. Supposedly, they are all seeking to destroy our country, and if I don’t ACT NOW, they’ll take over. (I had someone tell me recently, in all seriousness, that she heard Congress was considering a law making it illegal for pastors to preach!)
The message of the gospel, however, seems to run counter to the fear machine. Look at this passage from 1 John 4. Let me highlight one thought: “There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear.” Did you catch that? What this means to me is that as I pursue Jesus, and as I grow and love more like him, it drives the fear out of me, and I find myself consumed with love for others, not fear.
Yes, I’m still fearful. I still hear noises in the night and get freaked out. Oncoming traffic – especially late at night on country roads – makes me grab the steering wheel a little tighter and say a little prayer. Yes, I still look at the world around me and get afraid for myself, for my children and what the future holds. But as I follow Jesus, I hope that love drives out fear and that I find myself instinctively loving people who I am tempted to see as enemies.
