When Fear Is Easier

I think we can all agree that 2020 didn't come quietly and somehow the year feels long even though we're only three months in and we all want a re-set, a do-over. A start-over. But here we are. 

The year began with us praying for rain for Australia as wildfires devastated its countryside, leaving many dead and thousands displaced. Only weeks later, the world sat horrified as a helicopter crash took the life of one of basketball's greatest superstars, Kobe Bryant, and the lives of eight others. It mourned as Kobe's service was broadcasted all over television, and people contemplated their own mortality and the brevity of life. Just when we all thought life was resuming some regularity, COVID-19 hit and now the world is in a panic.

As news hits our social media timelines and our televisions, I can feel the anxiety rising and so can you. The stores empty and people worry and crazy sets in and we all wonder when this will pass. 

Fear is real and it looms large and if you let it, it will straight up kill you. Fear steals, and fear eats away and takes your faith and then you doubt. 

I sit in my home here in Alaska in a state still largely unaffected by the coronavirus, praying for as many lives to be spared of this illness as possible, asking God how to calm the nervous soul and see all this His way. Trying to fight fear with belief - to trust we will survive and He still reigns. On the heels of all this, I get word that two relatives on my father's side that I didn't know have passed away. Then I hear just the other day that my friend Sam's sister, who so bravely battled cancer with him, passed away too. And in an odd twist of fate, it wasn't cancer that killed her but a cold-hearted, soon-to-be ex-husband. She leaves two small children and two devastated parents and an older sister, stricken with grief. So many questions hang, and we all struggle to understand God's ways in a world that often leaves us begging for answers. 

Fear is contagious. But so also is hope.

We can all admit that fear is the easier choice. It's far more natural to let the concern and the worry rule than to choose the brave way. Hope takes more effort because it calls on us to do the un-natural thing. To override default setting and pick the spiritual path - to go against how we feel in order to practice what we believe. There's a lot to be uncertain about right now. People wonder how all this shut-down and quarantine will affect their finances, their jobs, their education, their sports, their travel plans, wedding plans, funeral plans. Everything is mere projection at this point as businesses, governments, and leaders try to determine how long this might all be necessary. None of us know. And for all our wondering, there is only One who truly does know. We look to Him, and that is all we can do. 

It's true that everyone feels like life is out of control right now. But may it comfort us to know that we have a peace, an answer that others are seeking. While they look to many other things to calm their nerves at this time, we take refuge in a sovereign God that was not surprised or caught off guard by any of this. He knows our time. He knows our days. He knows what we must bear. And somehow, we have to trust Him that there is an eternal reason for allowing all of this to take place. We may not like it, and it will be horribly inconvenient and disappointing. Plans will have to change or be canceled. We will all need to find contentment in an otherwise not-so-ideal situation. But there is still a God ruling that will work all this for good in His time and His way, however currently mysterious. And He will take care of us. We will be okay because we belong to Him. 

As you all hole up at home and practice your "social distancing," know that God is near and He loves you fiercely. Let it bring you hope in those moments when you find yourself worrying or losing faith that you are held and kept by Christ, and He will never let go of you. You can't change or control any of the things that are happening right now, but you can control how you respond. 

Allow hope to rule and don't give those fears a place because there is Grace. 

And remember too, that you're not the only one in this battle for joy and belief. Your friends are trying to hope on also. So, while you are given this gift of extra time, you don't have the excuse to say that you're too busy and you can't reach out or check in. Thanks to the digital age we live in, communication is easier than ever and friends and loved ones are merely a text, phone call, Skype or FaceTime chat away. A virus can take away our activities and some of our conveniences and comforts, but it can't take away our love, our friendship, our care for one another. We may have to live without gathering in person for awhile, but let's not leave each other alone in this...because we're not. We're still the Body. We're still His family. We're still community. So let's speak words of life to each other while we wait. Let's give one another hope when we're discouraged. And let's choose the braver, harder way together.