Don't Be Afraid!

If we honestly look inside us, it turns out that we are afraid of many things. What wakes us up from our dreams? What causes pain in our thoughts? How could we secure ourselves? We can feel our vulnerability, our fear, because we often experience our weaknesses.

That is why it is so miraculous, that the Easter stories in the Bible all begins with this line: "Don't be afraid!" At Easter the angel also greets the women and the apprentices with this line. No one is strong enough to be afraid of nothing. It is mentioned in the Bible, that the soldiers were frightened, when the angel appeared. "Don't be afraid!" – this reassurance is for the apprentices, not for the soldiers!

Most of the people suffer from loneliness, because "It is not good for people to be alone." However, a person, who fights in his own is an idol nowadays. In fact we are afraid of loneliness. People can be lonely in many different situations: family, job, principles, in their rights, in a case of their honor.

Loneliness turns us aganist ourselves, because it says that nobody needs you; you are not suitable for anything, you do not have any mission in your life. Jesus was lonely too. He went through terrible loneliness in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knows what loneliness is, because in his redeeming death he was alone. He was that real and true man, who undertook death on the cross for us, because of us and instead of us, and was finally resurrected.

The women going to the grave were called by an angel with this line: “You, don’t be afraid!” Don’t be afraid of loneliness! You are not unnecessary or miserable. You are the unreplicateable creature of God, to whom a blessed family and the Christian community open their arms to hold you tight with Christ.

"You, don't be afraid!" The cause of this line is the church and the congregational communities, in that you will find your new family as a lonely person, and in that God shows you are important to Him. That is why you should not be afraid! Don't be afraid of loneliness! In Christ's family you won't be lonely at all, under any circumstances.

If we could understand this, we have nothing more to do, just to use it in our everyday life. Jesus Christ is the same victorious Lord who defeated death, sin and the power of Satan. We should trust in Him, that the power of resurrection can fill our lives. He says that directly to us, "Don't be afraid!"

 

From Gyula Pálinkás, reformed pastor's article translated by Amy Lester, Krisztina Laszló