As I waited to leave for a class the other night, I turned on the national news. As the host came on the air, tense music began to play. The tenor of his voice was one of warning as he outlined the various news events the broadcast would cover. I have listened to this national news many times in the past, but something clicked in my spirit that night.
Fear. Everything from the music to the tone of the host’s voice to the events chosen to be covered was designed (perhaps not intentionally) to create fear in the listener.
Fear. It is the atmosphere of much of our society. We fear this v-and-fear pandemic. We fear the crashing of our economy. We fear the loss of the very foundations of democracy. We fear radicalism, hatred, injustice, and so much that is displayed across our government, media, and social lives.
As a child of God, however, fear is part of our past, not our present. When Christ redeemed us, when grace appeared for us, the fear that lived in us was replaced with something far stronger. We received the Spirit of adoption into the family of God.
“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children.” [Romans 8:15-16 HCSB]
Now God is personal, He is our “Abba, Father.” He is not our enemy, but our Father. As His Spirit lives in us, He Himself testifies to us constantly that we are God’s children. GOD’S CHILDREN!
If there is anything that should bring us to our knees, it is not the fear this world promotes, it is the wondrous truth that “I am a child of God!” We cannot say that enough. We cannot meditate on that enough. We cannot live that enough. It is the only thing that will drive fear from us!
I am a child of God!
