﻿Fear.
There is rational fear or good fear and irrational fear or bad fear.
Good Fear is God given. It is for our protection. Good fear is when the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. The kind of fear that tells you to cross the street for “some strange reason.” The kind of fear that gives you superhuman strength in dealing with sudden danger. It’s rooted in our animal instinct of pure and absolute protection of ourself and others.
Bad fear is when we allow past events to cause anxiety today. It immobilizes us, causing us to be stuck where we are. Sometimes that means missing out on the good because we are too afraid of the unknown.
After Jesus was crucified, the disciples hid in fear. Their fear started as a good fear- they were afraid for their lives. As Jesus’ followers they were correct to think their lives were in danger. Unfortunately they allowed it to turn into bad fear. They hid away.
Jesus came and invited them to leave their fear behind saying, “Peace be with you.” Jesus invited them to trust him. In the same way he invites us to leave our fear behind. He is our Comfort, our Strength. He promises to be with us and to walk beside us even when we are afraid.
​We can take precautions to keep ourselves and our families safe, or we can allow fear to stop us from living life.
A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.
