It seems that we, as Christians, live in fear. Fear of offending someone, fear of telling others about our faith because they might reject us or the message and report it to someone, fear of being apostles like we are supposed to be. Why? Well, in the society which has come into America in the past twenty or thirty years, there seems to be more hostility toward people who profess to have faith in Jesus. Most don’t care if you believe in God because “everyone believes in God”, but if you bring the name of Jesus into the conversation things get a bit tricky. Because they don’t want to hear what He said or believe in Him. Why?

Mostly, because He taught that the hatred of someone is equivalent to murder. He taught that the thought of adultery was the same thing as the sin of adultery. Just the consideration of a sin, whatever it may be but specifically those two, is the same as committing them. That is why, in my opinion, people are so polarized against Jesus and His message. God is okay because His laws begin with the Ten Commandments and nobody could keep those perfectly, right? While this statement is true, they are still commandments, especially the ones about how to treat your mother and father and those which tell us how to behave toward one another.

So, why are we afraid to speak about our faith? Is it because it is our faith which scares others or is it because of the reaction we may get because of our faith if we tell someone about Jesus? Truthfully we shouldn’t be afraid of those around us because we have God on our side. He is in control of the situation regardless of where we may be as long as we have faith in Him to “have our backs” as we walk through this world. Psalm 23 tells us that He is with us through the “valley of the shadow of Death“, so why should we be afraid or live in fear of others? They can hurt us physically but if they kill you, then it was your time to go and you will be in His Presence. Does this give me chills? If I were foolish enough to walk on the streets of a big city after dark, yes I would be afraid, but I would be praying so hard that people would think I was loony anyway so, who cares?

As Christians, born into the family of God, we have His Spirit with us at all times, so why be afraid of talking to someone? One of the Trinity is there with us every step of the way and He gives us the words to speak at the time that we need them. God loves each of us with a love that we cannot understand or imagine and it will be His Presence working through us, protecting us from those of Satan’s army who would try to hurt us wherever we go. So, don’t be afraid of things which go bump in the night because your God is your Protector and your Guide it is He Who will protect you and lead you to the places where there is cool water and rest for your soul.