My personal theme for Christmas this year is JOY. I’ve asked the Lord for 25 simple thoughts about JOY during the advent season. I’m passing them along one thought at a time, hoping you join the conversation.
#1 Joy Kills Fear!
(I anticipated the subject of fear would make an appearance at some point during this joy-themed advent. After all, what steals joy more than fear? I didn’t expect it to be day one, but here we go.)
In Luke 2, some shepherds were minding their own business tending sheep, doing what they do, when an angel appears and glory lights up the night. The shepherds were filled with fear. The first thing the angel speaks to them is, “Do not be afraid….”
Sometimes when the Lord begins to speak to us about new things, like the shepherds in the fields, our initial reaction is fear. We are frightened by the new, the unknown, the difficulty, change. I admit, sometimes I even get frightened by the way the Lord is speaking to me and I begin to over analyze. Before I can blink, doubt has joined my fear.
Look at what the angel says next, though …I bring you good news of great joy. The angel speaks calm to the shepherds’ fear by announcing he has good news of great joy. I love this contrast between fear and joy. There are many ways to calm fear and even more ways to manage fear. But the angel didn’t say control your fear…learn to live with your fear…forget you’re afraid. The message is, Do not be afraid… Why? Because there is good news. How? Because it comes with great joy that overrules fear.
Fear will try to steal our joy, but joy kills fear!
Brave Sparrow 