As I grow older, I have a greater understanding of the simple, yet intense, reality of fear. When I was a child, fear came from the unknown. The thing I dreaded most was not a monster from my closet, but the empty black doorway of the unknown that lay beyond my closet door. I slept with a nightlight, my closet door was tightly shut, and there was no potential for anything to sneak up on me. To know what I faced quelled my fears.
Now that I am older, fear comes from what is known. I see things happening in the news—bad things that cannot be denied. I hear stories about gas leaks and carbon monoxide poisoning and suddenly I think I smell gas every time I walk into my house. I meet people who suffer from all sorts of health problems and suddenly I feel like I am sick and make the mistake of looking up my symptoms on WebMD. To know what I may face no longer quells my fears, but, in fact, does the opposite. Ignorance is bliss as they say.
The Reality of Evil
As I write this, my fears have become a mesh of the two circumstances outlined above. I am afraid of the unknown things that may happen based upon what I do know has happened. There is no escaping the evil. It is ever present and in our fallen, sin-filled world and it will not be going away anytime soon.
Listening to various groups around me, I hear many different opinions on the state of the world. Some say to not worry because Jesus is coming back soon so it will not matter. Others say that our country will fall, if not physically then spirituality. Others deny that there is anything wrong at all.
Regardless of what you may think, for the Christian, it is undeniable that evil exists and that its sole purpose is to destroy what is good. More specifically, Satan seeks to destroy all who follow Christ (1 Peter 5:8). So how, as Christians, do we face this evil? How do we deal with our fear?
The Victory of Good
I recently saw the final film in The Hunger Games franchise. For those of you who do not know, The Hunger Games series is basically about how a corrupt and oppressive government that has ruled and manipulated through propaganda is overthrown by the people under its oppression using, well, propaganda. Yet at the end of the last film, despite corruption on both sides of the war, good and freedom triumph through the efforts of the film’s protagonists.
Despite the best efforts of evil, good ultimately won. This reminded me of another film franchise with a few similar themes of standing against tyranny. That franchise being The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The characters in that story faced similar odds to the characters in The Hunger Games, though on a much larger scale. They faced great evil and paid heavily for their freedom. Again, evil was overthrown and peace reigned once more.
These stories are all very nice and entertaining to us because, even though we may not know the exact details, the assumption is most often made that the good guys will win. That is what we all desire: for good to win. But in real life, the world we are living now, we do not know the end. This is not a movie. There is no surety that the good guys will win.
Or is there?
The Rule of Christ
When events like the 9/11 and Paris attacks happen, many people ask the question, “Where was God? Why didn’t He stop this?” Many others ask, “If God is so loving how can evil prevail?”
As Christians, we know that Jesus does rule. 1 John 4:4b says “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” The key to seeing this is being able to look at things with a heavenly perspective. God sees all of history. He knows the rise and fall of nations before they happen. The world may look on as wars wage and say it is hopeless, but Jehovah always preserves a remnant. One only has to look at history to see that.
Professor Tolkien understood this when he wrote The Lord of the Rings. In the third book in the trilogy, one of the soldiers of the city of Minas Tirith (a city that literally stands at the forefront of the war) tells the hobbit Peregrin Took that even if the war is lost, it is not the end:
“Nay, though all things must come utterly to an end in time, Gondor shall not perish yet. Not though the walls be taken by a reckless foe that will build a hill of carrion before them. There are still other fastnesses, and secret ways of escape into the mountains. Hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green” (The Return of the King, Chapter 1).
It is easy to be sure good will win in tales and films where we know there is an author/director getting the outcome audiences will like. But it is not so different in real life. Yes, evil may win a few battles, but God never abandons His people. Jehovah is the great Author who is weaving an epic tale that is written to draw humanity to Him. Good always triumphs over evil. We can have surety that in Christ, hope and memory shall live. While we are in this world we must look to Christ in all things as our hope and remember that someday He will wipe away every tear (Revelation 21:4). He is in control and that reality alone is strong enough to overcome any fear.
