Sometimes in life, we are overcome with the horror, fear and unknown which lies in front of us. It’s about time for our hero to appear, and in fact, we Christians believe our hero has already arrived to save the day, the year, and all eternity. His name is Jesus, which actually means to save, rescue and redeem! And do we need a savior now more than ever! The first believers made the heroic and
courageous choice to shift the two titles reserved and required to use for the Roman Emperor, Lord and Savior, to Jesus alone, paying for this decision with their lives. The public identification of these titles with their Lord made the most astounding statement: Jesus, not Rome, held ultimate authority and power over every other visible and invisible entity in this world or any other in the vast cosmos! If one examines closely any or all of the literary and cinematic franchises whose villains appear above, and why in the world why would one not take that time and effort (!!), one will discover quickly that the heroic man or woman or team opposing these dastardly evil villains reflect, resemble and resound with Christ-like qualities. Our created heroes spring from the one true hero of all humanity, as there is no other place to look!! A member of the Johannine church wrote in a New Testament letter that perfected love casts out all fear, a divine love received from Jesus Himself and deployed under His auspices. There is no room for fear in a heart of love! God’s love can conquer, calm and quell even the darkest of villains. As we face so many challenges in our lives, I am working to choose love over fear. I chose Jesus.
- A very good Lenten discipline is to reflect and perhaps journal our deepest fears and place them in prayer at the throne of our Lord for His disposal. What is under our life journey bed that goes bump in our spiritual life? Can we honestly confront, identify and name our fear?
- Another good but challenging spiritual discipline is to verbally or visually embrace your fear to surround it with love. This is not an easy assignment but sometimes necessary to make progress in our spiritual walk. I am happy to explain more about this privately and help anyone do this.
- How is God perfecting our ability to love in the face of fear this Lent? Right now as the world turns upside down?