What are you afraid of?
Perhaps you find it hard even to ask the question, thinking to yourself, “What am I not afraid of?” We are afraid of so many things. We can be afraid of what people will think of us, afraid that we won’t know what to say in a social situation, afraid that we’ll fail at something we’ve been asked to do (or afraid even of volunteering, in case we fail). We can be afraid of what will happen if a loved one dies, or afraid that we ourselves may die painfully or contract some terrible illness. We can be afraid of being made redundant, or not having enough money. We can be afraid of what might happen to our children, our parents, our spouse. We can be afraid… well, the list is literally endless. We can be afraid of almost anything.
Yet one of the most frequent commands in the Bible is, “Do not be afraid” (just look it up in a concordance). God seems to understand our fears, and he gives us reasons for not being afraid and for trusting him (for example, have a look at Luke 12:32).
But have you ever thought of heaven as a place where we will be free from all these fears? We are heading for somewhere where we won’t be afraid of anyone or anything. Or rather, we are heading to a Person in whose presence these fears will disappear. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it, that we won’t be afraid of doing the wrong thing ourselves, nor of bad things happening to us – and the same goes for everyone else as well? But it’s true.
Chris Hobbs, Senior Minister (Vicar)