Take a look around. What’s happening? Fear controls people. Fear grips a person’s soul in its tenacious paws.
A person overcome with fear ceases to be a human being, ceases to feel compassion and love. He can only be afraid and filled with panic.
Let’s remember the words of one of the proverbs, which have a new meaning today when fear conquers an increasing number of human hearts.
“The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.” (Prov. 10:24).
Who is afraid? The wicked one. One who has evil in his heart is afraid that evil will befall him in retribution. This, by the way, is what always happens.
Who is a righteous man? He is not afraid and does not go into panic, because he is under the protection of the Lord and the blessing of God rests on all his deeds.
What do these words mean? Fear is the lot of the wicked. Fear is a sign that the Gospel commandments and values did not become the foundation and center of one’s life, and the Lord did not become its Master.
The Savior repeats many times: “Do not be afraid!” How many people hear this call? Perhaps someone believes that these words were said two thousand years ago to completely different people. No. This is being said now to each of us as well. The Gospel is a living book, all the words in it live today, not yesterday or tomorrow, they are intended for those who are listening to them at the moment.
If a person does not free himself from the yoke of fear, complete destruction awaits him. Fear cuts off the path to salvation, sobriety, and kills hope. Fear is a bad counselor. It serves evil and never gives good advice.
Fear breeds panic. And panic is what is really killing people. Neglecting others, showing the lack of mercy and unwillingness to help others are the consequences of anxiety.
A person who lives in fear thinks only of his own skin and gradually turns into an animal. Fear damages one’s soul and drives out everything Divine from it, leaving only the mundane.
But let’s remember what Christ says to us: “Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36). Christianity is hope in God and for God. This is complete trust in Him, this is the realization that nothing will happen to us without His will. If a Christian speaks about fear, he or she should only speak about “the fear of God”, the fear of being left without God, and the fear of moving away from the Lord because of one’s sins, one’s anger, one’s fearfulness and one’s distrust in Him.
As long as God is with us, we simply cannot be afraid.
