Conquering

It's more than just a slogan, one that was used by Faith Radio during the pandemic: Faith Over Fear. We remember that the Bible says that greater is He who is in us than He who is in the world. We will be beset by fear, but we can turn to that greater power, as 2nd Timothy chapter 1 reminds us; it says:
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel...

Jesus calls us to abide in Him and to abide in His peace - He tells us that we are to anxious for nothing, but seek first His Kingdom.  When we are afraid - and I believe we will be from time to time - it gives us the opportunity to look to our powerful and loving Savior, who has made us more than conquerors, who has defeated the power of sin and death, who enables us to walk in victory.  When fear comes - and it will - we can be confident in the presence of our Lord.

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No doubt the psalmist David struggled with fear - with his life in danger, pursued by a powerful enemy, he was honest about his fears and the power of Almighty God. Psalm 27 contains these words:
1 A Psalm of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war should rise against me, In this I will be confident.
4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple.
5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.

The day that has come to be known for gouging on candy and preying on fears has arrived, and it gives us a chance to reflect on the rather "scary" world in which we live.

The fear of worldwide catastrophe has been ratcheted up as the result of a brutal attack on Israel by a terrorist group that has taken lives, including those of children, in unspeakable ways, with the perpetrators still holding upwards of 200 hostages.  Large nations in the region, from Iran to Turkey, have participated in threats against Israel, which is dedicated to ridding this evil from its midst.  These are unstable times in the Middle East.

And, in the aftermath of a mass shooting rampage in Lewiston, Maine, last week, in which 18 people lost their lives, residents are breathing a sigh of relief that the perpetrator, who had a history of mental illness, has been found dead.  But, the grieving period has really just begun.  Television station WGBH offered this description:

While the search was still underway, some residents said they were scared, sad and even frustrated that yet another mass shooting has killed so many — and shattered their assumptions about a place they thought was insulated from such violence.

The story goes on to say:

Early afternoon Friday, Jen Mason and her 12-year-old son were unloading groceries from their car on Main Street in Lisbon Falls. The street was deserted with most storefronts closed under shelter-in-place orders that were not lifted until late Friday afternoon. Just a mile away, police were searching the Sabattus and Androscoggin Rivers for clues to the alleged gunman’s whereabouts.

“A lot of sadness and just [being] unsure of where he is. I want to know. I want more than one update a day [about the manhunt],” said Mason, when asked about the mood of her community. “I don’t like being a prisoner in my home. It’s a nice day, and I want to go outside.”

They had driven 27 miles to a grocery store, because the local stores were closed. So were the schools. She missed her shift at a local restaurant. The article states:

The Rev. Daniel Greenleaf, pastor at Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston, hopes to hold church services this weekend — with added security.

“We’re sort of in this holding pattern with a lot of grief that can't get expressed because we can't get together. We can't open up the doors. We can't have a vigil. We can't hug each other,” he said.

The article described Greenleaf as "overwhelmed," even more than during the COVID crisis.

There are so many things that can make us afraid, more than those things that "go bump in the night," which in and of itself could produce a very real fear.  And, we can confront the fears we face with faith in God.   The Lewiston tragedy reminds us that the fear of the unknown is powerful and that you have people who have become so deceived, so despondent, so mentally unstable, that they become vulnerable to the manipulation of the enemy in order to do people harm.

There is certainly help and hope for those who have mental illness, I think you can at least talk about the spiritual dynamics that are at work that could result in a person acting irrationally.  The enemy, who is bent on destruction, as Jesus said, uses the power of suggestion in order to control a person's thoughts and actions.  Left unchecked, those deceptive thoughts can grow and become strongholds that will adversely affect a person's power to reason.  The presence of fear can become an incubator in which poor decision-making can grow.  We need the clarity and the power of the truth of Scripture to break through.  

While this time of year, we seem to be inundated with images that are designed to scare us and that glorify dark forces, we recognize that tomorrow, the focus shifts to a season of hope.  That speaks powerfully, I think - we have to move beyond and conquer our fears by trusting in the One who came to earth, died on a cross, and rose from the dead, who conquered sin and death.  He comforts us in our struggles, He teaches us how to have peace in our minds, and He provides His Holy Spirit so that we might live in the victory that He has obtained over the power of the enemy.