No Fear!
I have always liked how this phrase sounds. It speaks of strength and assurance, confidence and competence. It speaks of exceptional bravery by those who are the cream of the crop.
However, it has recently taken on a new meaning for me. As we see the scenes unfold before us in dealing with the horrendous results of the recent earthquake in Haiti, I have come to a new appreciation of the phrase “No Fear”.
It goes beyond the absence of fear. It involves the triumph over our fears and in spite of our fears. It’s more than idealistic to say that we don’t have any fears. Many of us share the fear of speaking in public. Some say that stands at the top of most lists. We admire those who appear fearless when standing before us doing so effortlessly what makes many of us break out in a cold sweat.
Then there are those who have no fear in launching new endeavors or taking on difficult tasks. In this group I would include those who seek to make positive changes in the face of long standing traditions or accepted norms. It seems they must have nerves of steel.
But I have learned a new definition of “No Fear”. I saw it in the faces of the countless thousands who have literally lost everything. Yet, somehow, they lift their arms towards heaven and say “God, we love you and we still trust you. You are worthy of our praise”.
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2
Standing together in the middle of total destruction, a song will start from one lip to another. As on some practiced queue they take up a song of praise and hope. Although all around them there is nothing to give them a sense of a brighter tomorrow or a promised end of today, they sing. That’s a new “No Fear”.
I have seen it in the faces of the rescuers who have put their normal lives on hold to help those who they don’t even know. I have seen it in their actions when they spend hour after hour digging through rubble to do all they can possibly do to reach that nameless person whose only hope for life rests in their weary hands.
I have seen it in the faces of those who, one patient after another, deal with the most gruesome wounds and injuries. Yet they remain a beacon of all that is good and loving that is possible in the hearts of man. This is not how life should be. This is not how they imagined this day. Yet, they say, “here I am, use me”. That’s a new “No Fear”.
I need that kind of “No Fear”. I am reminded that it’s not the absence of fear that indicates the time to move forward. Instead, it’s in the midst of our fears that we must move out and take on the tasks we have each been given by God.
One day, hopefully sooner than later, we will truly know and experience a life without any fears. Until then, let’s push through, do what we can, makes things better not for just ourselves, but for those we minister to.
But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.
I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints. Psalms 52: 8, 9
