In [the] groups I’m a part of, if I only paid attention to the negative occurrences (because that’s what we tend to do, and because they’re more plentiful) I would be scared to death of accepting travel assignments that could be canceled at the drop of a hat, or I’d never travel in an RV since they have so many things that break down and incur costly repairs. I wouldn’t let my children play in the front yard unless I was standing at their guard, and I’d never venture to explore new and exciting places. I wouldn’t welcome new friends since they might be serial killers, and I’d never eat shredded lettuce out of a bag, despite the convenience.
As a pregnant woman I would have feared every worst scenario possible in the delivery room, and as a mom, I would fear every vaccine my child was offered. For a long time I’ve noticed the trend of news networks to peddle fear like an eager ice cream man, but now I see it more and more on social media as well. The scary posts of being followed in Walmart with a thousand shares, meant with good intentions of awareness, but often received in the worst way. Unaware we lap up the scary stuff, we pull our coat up over our face, we pull our children closer, and we allow the circumstances of this world to cripple us.
Walking in faith means pushing back fear. So while there’s nothing wrong with being a smart cookie, sometimes most times all the time you have to trust your life to Jesus. You walk wisely, but you walk boldly. You recognize that fear is from the enemy, freedom is without fear, and where love exists, fear does not. We’re accosted with scary things in this world, but thankfully we aren’t ruled by fear. A scroll through social media could cause you to forget that.