Peace

I can't stand horror movies. I think it's because as a child, I saw a horror movie for adults, and it terrified me. But consider Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, or The Pied Piper. Every culture tells stories about its darkest fears.

Out of all the stories we can tell about fear, the Bible is the most honest. It depicts the depravity of human evil, and the consequent suffering. It speaks of death and divine judgment. It warns us of demonic powers.

Yet the Bible is not trying to scare us into compliance. Consider King Nebuchadnezzar. He erected a ninety-foot high gold statue and demanded worship. The alternative to idolatry? To be thrown into a furnace and burned alive. One way to detect the presence of idolatry is to look for messages of oppressive fear.

But the Bible tells us this story to encourage us with the message of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! They tell the king, "If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire... But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods."

**Because their trust is in God, they are fearless in regard to others.**

Everyone is afraid of someone or something. Proverbs 1:7 tells us, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." But this is not trembling in agony—it is reverence and love for God, who is Almighty.

Consider that when the disciples were terrified after the crucifixion, one of the first words that Jesus greets them with is "Peace be with you!" It's an echo of what he had just taught them: "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don't let your heart be troubled or fearful."

**If we 'fear' Jesus—if he is our ultimate authority and the great love of our hearts—then we will experience peace.**

Is this peace something we have to work hard to achieve? No, Jesus is the one who established peaceful relations between God and us. And it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that develops peace within our hearts. Objectively and subjectively, it is God's work that displaces fear with peace.