“Piracy is not a victimless crime,” he joshed.
“Yeah, I recently read that somewhere,” I lobbed back.
This light-hearted banter was pitched back and forth as we waited for the movie to cue.
It bounced back this week, though, after a frantic exchange was being tossed my way.
Wanna know what else isn’t victimless?
Fear.
Fear is not a victimless “crime”.
It spills over, rippling outward and splashing onto the unsuspecting in its vicinity.
When the frantic start throwing the fruit of their fear, sometimes you catch it. It can be that contagious.
But you don’t have to.
You don’t have to get caught up in the frenzied fray of fear.
You can throw up the shield of faith.
Faith is subversive to fear.
Faith, grounded in Truth, ushers in peace . . . calm . . . reason.
Faith peers past the fear to the lies behind it.
The media…politicians…insurance companies, they all prey upon one’s fear. Or at least feed into it. Churning up a maelstrom.
But what if we believed in another reality? Unseen. Present. Secure.
A reality where the King is sovereignly working out a plan for our good.
Believing in His kingdom informs the way to live in the kingdom of this world. It influences the way I allow the kingdom of this world to affect me. And my response to the punches it throws.
We see examples of this in the gospels and the epistles. Paul comes to mind. When fear volleyed among the passengers of the sinking ship he was on (see Acts 27), he encouraged them with his faith (especially see verse 25). And when it seemed all was sure to be lost, the men scrambled for the lifeboats to bail overboard. But Paul confidently assured them, “unless you stay with the ship, you cannot be saved” (verse 31).
Do you know someone who is storm-tossed, who needs to be reassured to stay with Jesus? Encourage them.
What fear-tossed soul needs the reminder to hold fast to Jesus through the storm? Steady them.
Don’t catch their fear—toss back faith instead.
When a tumult is being thrown at you out of someone else’s fear, don’t allow the lies they’re believing to become contagious. Fear doesn’t have to claim you as its victim.
You don’t have to catch what’s being tossed your way. Gently raise up your shield of faith instead and believe beyond what you see to a truer, greater reality.