Fear Not

All the political news these days is pretty grim: the whole middle east in turmoil and threatening to coalesce into a caliphate; South American countries become more communist and anti-American; unions organizing to fight for their own interests, no matter what the interests of the country might be; strong anti-Christian and anti-Israel sentiment around the world; our debt mounting and China, who holds most of it, not exactly a friend of the US; threatening collapse of the dollar. What is the answer to times like these when one might seriously think that the end times may come in one's lifetime?

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, not rulers, nor things present, nor things yet to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

I worry a lot. I am just a fearful person by nature. I am not an optimist. So this encouragement in the face of today's news comforts me.

"I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me and set me in large places. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me." (Psalm 118:5-7)

This is the antidote to my fear: call upon the Lord in my distress. No matter how bad things might get, I can always call upon Him.