NO FEAR

What would it look like to live life without fear? I've often asked myself this question. Every once in a while, I encounter someone who seems to have it figured out. My last trip to Bosnia was just such an occasion.

I first met her during an outreach for new Christian women and seekers in Capljina. It was a jewelry making event. I knew little about creating these artful trinkets. Neither of us could understand a word each other spoke, yet somehow we managed to communicate with a woman’s tendency to speak with flailing arm gestures. Immediately, I could tell she was a woman who knew what she wanted. She cared little whether her necklace of various sizes and shapes had perfect symmetry, only that the black shimmering colors matched; or whether there was slack in her bracelet, as long as everything was included as she created it. There was a contentedness about her. She gave up on perfection long ago. It was not important to her. She had found something more important. Tonight was about joy. Her expectations were clear.

Had I spoken the language, I am certain I would have had a few questions for her, but the evening was fast paced, and there was not much time to unpack this peace she emanated. She left an impression on me.

Later in the week, my group would make a trip to a village for visitations to those in need of prayer. Our last stop was to the business of a fairly new Christian woman under extreme persecution for her new found Christian faith. To my surprise, it was my jewelry partner. She greeted me with a big hug and kiss for both cheeks, as is customary in this country. Inside her shop, we would hear her story, which would illuminate all of the unanswered questions raised the night of our women’s outreach.

She came to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ much to the opposition of her entire family. This is not uncommon in this region. Her family is opposed to her decision. A parent has threatened her with imprisonment and even death. When asked what we could pray for on her behalf, she asked if we could pray for the safety of her business and for the salvation of her family. Afterward, she openly solicited questions. Many were asked. But, I was having a difficult time wrapping my mind around a loved one who wanted her in prison or, worse yet, dead! This was unimaginable to me. Still, there was something about her. It was beyond forgiveness, beyond grace, something more. It was the same contentedness I saw the night of the outreach, this peace. What was that? How did she get it? So, I asked her, “Do you ever feel in danger or threatened? Are you afraid for your life?” To this she replied (thru a translator), with this same peace and utter confidence, “No, not at all. I would go through all of this again, if the alternative meant not having Jesus in my life.” I realized, then, I was standing before someone who truly trusted the Lord and loved Him with a perfect love.

John tells us about this truth, about the incompatibility of love and fear, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, (1 John 4:18b). I think I finally understood how short I fall in the fear-based life I lead. My fear of the unknown, my anxieties and my worries, the “what ifs”, the “things are going too well,” it must be my turn next! Have you ever had these thoughts? This woman has known worse things and still loves and praises Jesus for what He is going to do next. I have seen Jesus do great things in my life, and still fear the table is going to turn as I watch the tragedies which surround me. Her reality is the trinket is perfect in its imperfection. She sees herself, her circumstances and others as God sees, which affords her perfect love, perfect peace, unfathomable faith and no fear.

We could all heed a lesson from my new friend’s pearls of wisdom. Whether strung together or gazed upon in isolation, her message hangs together, timeless and relevant, and is as brilliant as the black beads she hand selected of every shape and size to create her masterpiece, just as God created her.

"Fear never wrote a symphony or a poem, negotiated a peace treaty or cured a disease. Fear never pulled a family out of poverty or a country out of bigotry. Fear never saved a marriage or a business. Courage did that. Faith did that." (a)

(a) Lucado, Max, "Fearless", Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2009


Peace,
Kathy