Real Hope: Fear NotMfano

Draw Near To Him

Fear and anxiety are often thought of as the same thing, but they are not. Fear is about something right in front of you; predictable and imminent. Anxiety is the opposite. It is worrying about something in the future that may or may not even happen.

So, if I am at one of our beautiful beaches out beyond the breakers and hear the shark alarm and then I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye… that’s fear. A good thing, right?

However, if I watch a few too many re-runs of Jaws, followed by a string of shark attack news stories and then let myself dwell on these in an unnecessary and unhealthy way, that’s anxiety; fear of a terrifying shark attack that, logically, is exceptionally unlikely of ever happening. Mr. Google tells me that the chances of being killed by a shark are 1 in 3.7 million. You have more chance of death by fireworks. A meager 1 in 340,000! Go figure?

Understanding our true identity as Christians is what can help us identify anxiety and deal with it. To do this we need to constantly draw near to our God. Today’s scripture lists off what cannot stand in our way, ending with a catch-all of ‘anything else in all creation’. Wow! There really is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. 

Enjoy your next swim and watch out for stray fireworks. 

written by ROBBIE PARKIN