The Sum of All Fears

Having traveled extensively and lived abroad in two countries, and also being a semi-regular consumer of international news, I am aware that I have a relatively safe existence compared to most of my fellow human beings on this planet. But that knowledge doesn't stop me from being afraid (any more than it will stop you).

• I'm afraid that the economy will crash and I'll lose my job and then we'll lose our house.
• I'm afraid I'll get sick and be unable to care for my family.
• I'm afraid I'll die early and leave my wife and children alone (the Lady knows an unusually large number of young widows).
• I'm afraid my wife will develop breast cancer.
• I'm afraid that Illinois will go bankrupt, and our taxes will skyrocket while the services we rely on will be taken away, turning this state into a basket-case.
• I'm afraid that our religious freedoms will be increasingly curtailed in the name of "tolerance" and "equality," to the point where we have to choose daily whether to obey God or the government.
• I'm afraid that a racist "tough guy" who imagines himself a "defender of the people" will attack my son because he sees a young black man walking down the street in a white neighborhood, or doesn't like the music he's playing in his car - and that he'll get away with it (as has happened twice now in Florida).
• I'm afraid my daughter will never catch up to her peers educationally. 
• I'm afraid that I'll lose my patience and my temper with my two stubborn children and emotionally wound them for life.
• I'm afraid that I'll dig my heels in over a contentious issue, only to find out later that I am wrong - and then not have the balls to admit that I am wrong (it happened once before).
• I'm afraid I'll spend the rest of my career feeling like an underachiever, even if I am fairly successful, because a handful of people who know me well told me I was "smart enough to do anything I wanted."
• I'm afraid the next terrorist attack will be orders of magnitude worse than 9/11, and it will bring our country to its knees.
• I'm afraid that another friend will die before the world appreciates his genius (or his fiance knows him fully). And I'm afraid the woman who took his life will get away with it.
• I'm afraid we'll get sued over something frivolous and we'll lose everything we've worked for.
• I'm afraid India will close to foreign adoptions before we can bring our next son or daughter home  (leaving us with more failed adoptions than actual children)

And yet I am repeatedly commanded by my Lord, "do not be afraid." This command is repeated (in some form or context) 365 times in the Bible, because every day of the year I am given more reasons to fear.

How do I obey that? How can you stop being afraid, if you truly love anyone (or even anything)? Must I eradicate this emotion?

In the Bible, fear is repeatedly contrasted with faith and courage. As opposed to its modern anti-Enlightenment connotations, faith - in its Biblical usage - is more like our present-day word, "trust." And courage is simply action in the face of fear.

So I can choose to trust in God to deliver us (as He has dramatically done), to protect us (as He generally has), and to provide for us (as He continually has). I can remind myself daily that the world, seemingly spinning out of control, is still in my Father's hands, and that He is telling his story - ultimately better than our own - with our lives.

But what if He doesn't? God is not obligated to protect us from all evil, nor for that matter has He. So how can I know that we will be okay?

I can't.

Last Sunday, a bunch of children sang,

Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel?
Then why not every man?

Seriously, God, why not?!

Daniel wasn't certain he would be delivered, and neither were his friends. Yet those three, choosing to obey God rather than the government, concluded their seemingly fearless statement to a dictator with these words: "But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

But if not - that is the essence of courage. They, like all heroes, chose to act despite their fear. And I, too, can fight back against fear. I can - I must - go on the offensive every single day. I can trust that God is genuinely good and all-powerful, and that - ignoring the free advice of atheistic philosophers - He is overcoming evil in His own wise and mysterious way. And I can choose courage, choose to risk this life -  which I cannot save anyway, I can only spend it - for that which lasts forever.