Living in Faith, not Fear as we move Forward

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice (fear), but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. I Timothy 1:7

Is it me or does Halloween get bigger every year? Ever since arriving in August, I have seen stores full of items, getting ready for Halloween. While I do not think Halloween is a good or bad thing per se, after five years of arranging Halloween parties for children, I can attest that scaring people and being scared by people is tiring work.

There are people who like living with fears, doubts and anxieties, like a child who is scared of the ax wielding monster. Scary people doing scary things can freeze any of us in place, causing us to go into ‘fright, flight or fight’ mode. Adrenalin goes up in our body, our breathing becomes short and shallow and we tend to make rush decisions as we scream down the proverbial hallway. Aiiiiii!

Halloween is built on fear and worry of the unknown. It is alright to worry and fear a number of things, but is not right to live in fear. Not only does living in fear make us tired, living in fear shortens our lives. Doctors will tell you, worries live shorter lives than non-worriers. Most of us live better when we live by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety.

As Christians we live by faith, which involves trusting God and being loyal to God. St. Matthew’s, as a church and congregation we have no need live in fear or worry of the unknown or to scare others with tricks and lies. Part of that means that we have the power to stand firm against the monsters and we even have the ability to take away the monster’s weapons, and to pull off the masks of people who try to scare us. We may even hug that monster that had chased us. Faith and confidence in God empowers us to face any challenge, any monster that comes our way.

Confident in God’s power as demonstrated in the past and hopeful for what lies ahead St. Matthew’s sets out on a course for which there is no road, the path is made with each step forward. Our faith reminds us to fear not -- "all will be well in the end."

Rev. Cheryl