(This blog post was inspired by my friend David’s Advent series for his church. Thanks for the inspiration. You can read about this series here: Fear Not) 

Fear is running rampant in our world.

Fear of our neighbor.
Fear of not enough money.
Fear of illness.
Fear of death.
Fear of…
The list keeps going and going!

One doesn’t have to look far to see this fear paralyzing us all. We are afraid to try new things because fear has this way of taking hold of us and paralyzing us. And when we turn on the news, this fear is only exacerbated.

We don’t need the world to tell us to fear the world. We are good enough at creating our own fear and anxiety. In fact, there are many in our world who live daily with anxiety; trying to find a sense of calm in their daily lives.

In Scripture, the words “Do not be afraid” appear 365 times; one for every day of the year. I feel like I sound like a broken record, but this does not seem like a coincidence to me. Jesus comes into the world to break the chains of fear. Jesus looks us each in the eye and reminds us to fear not.

But are we willing to trust in Christ’s promises? Are we willing to turn to him in the midst of our fears and doubts?

Fear is all around us! But these words from Jesus are words of promise!

Fear not, my friends,
FEAR NOT!