Edition 22 | 29th July 2020

The phrase, “do not be afraid,” is spoken over 300 times throughout the Old and New Testament. How do we respond to these words and how do we integrate them into our lives? The role of fear is a perplexing one. Fear can keep us appropriately safe from danger but it can also cloud our thinking, weaken our resolve or even prevent us from acting. 

It is a natural desire to minimise our experience of fear. But perhaps we are not called to remove fear from our lives but instead learn how to safely and intentionally move through it, and the way through it is by practising wisdom and trust. Perhaps the phrase ‘do not be afraid’ bears a sentiment of ‘‘trust in me, I am with you always”; or simply ‘I gotcha’. The invitation grounds a trust in a God who promises not to shelter us, but rather to provide and love us in our fear. Fear transforms itself into an invitation to surrender to God and we, in turn, grow and are transformed by the process.