“What do you fear?” A good question on Halloween, the day of the year dedicated to agitating that singularly powerful instinctive impulse. What do you really fear?       

Today will be dangerous. A car accident. A child’s cancer. A stock market crash. Dementia. Your enemy plots your demise. Surprise! This much is certain: What you don’t know can hurt you! The other shoe will drop. Bad things will happen. So what are you afraid of?

Jesus himself terrified people. Even those who knew him well never knew what to expect. That frightened them. One stormy night, Jesus walked across Lake Galilee. The story is recorded in Mark 6:50. His boat-rowing followers imagined the worst. A demon? A ghost? Their own insanity? “Be not-afraid!” Jesus answered out of the gloom. “It is I.” Then he climbed into their boat and everything returned to normal. What relief!

“Be not-afraid!” was enough. Jesus’ pointed words struck at the heart of their fears. Fear turns the cogs of this world – until Jesus arrives! “Be not-afraid” does more than banish fear; it established faith in the face of danger.

Today you will face intimidation. Things you cannot identify will taunt from the shadows. The enemy will agitate your fight-or-flight instinct until your imagination runs scared. But terror must not bind you. Jesus is here! Borrow his words and intimidate the intimidator. “Be strong and courageous!” “Be not-afraid!”

Answer wild imaginations: “Be not-afraid!” Answer might-be and could-be: “Be not-afraid!” Answer threats of sickness, poverty, and abandonment: “Be not-afraid!” Answer tomorrow: “Be not-afraid!”

Your mission: Sniff out the rank odors of fear. You’ll find it in your own soul, and the soul of every person you meet. Search and find the pungent source. When you do, let fly your borrowed words: “Be not-afraid!” Relief!

Question: “Where is there fear?” Answer: “Be not-afraid!”

The passage above is one section in my ebook called “Fighting Like Jesus.” Download a free copy here.