Living in Fear
Joey and Carla Link
April 1, 2020
The coronavirus has changed everyone’s life. It has made us look at everyone we come into contact with, wondering if they are infected or not. While urban cities are being hit harder than rural areas, that does not erase the global influence or impact of this event on everyone’s heart, mind and spirit no matter where you live. 
One of the worst things a parent can do is to pass the fears of what they hear on to their kids. We often do this in simple ways when we show our fear of heights, or of a mouse who has taken up residence in my kitchen, or things we can’t change like thunderstorms.
Fear is “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous and likely to cause pain.” Simply put, it’s what we believe about something that can cause our fears.
Fear of something or someone, whether the end result is good or bad drives our beliefs which drives our actions.
We heard once that F.E.A.R. is False Evidenc
While this virus is real and is affecting us in monumental ways, the Bible says,
“Do not be anxious about anyth
I (Joey) had an opportunity to practice this recently. Six weeks ago, I went to our local hospital’s Emergency Room due to pressure in my chest. Things started moving very quickly when the nurse saw my blood pressure was 211. They admitted me and I spent the night waiting for tests. The next morning we learned that I had 3 clogged arteries around my heart, 2 of which were double blocked. I needed emergency open heart quadruple bypass surgery. There is no history of heart problems in my family and I work out regularly. This was a surprise for all of us!
I remember praying when I had chest pains, and saying, “Lord, If this is it, I am ready to go to heaven with you“. I was immediately flooded with an overwhelming sense of peace. Are you ready? If something happened to you, are you confident heaven awaits you? If so, what is there to worry about? If not, you have a lot to worry about. If you need someone to talk to about this, please email us. We would love to talk to you!
Our daughter Amy was a fearful child. Most children with the Sanguine temperament are because of their overactive imaginations. She feared the lightening that could come through her window in a storm. We have impressive thunderstorms here in the Midwest! When she was 3-5 years old, she would come running to our room with her blanket and would lay down in-between us and we would pray with her. When the storm was over, and they rarely lasted long, she would thank us for loving her and back to bed she would go.
You see, God gave us the way to deal with worry when He says not to be anxious about anything. We are to pray.
Whether or not her fear was justified in our minds, it was a reality to her. We worked with her, comforting her and letting her know we were right there just as Jesus is right there with her all the time. She ended up growing out of it years later, as that is what comes with maturity.
In the same way, as we grow in our faith in God, we don’t need to fear a virus or anything else that comes our way because, as a friend said to me before I went into surgery, “God’s got this!” Which was a great reminder for me that no matter what happens to me, God is in control and Satan can do nothing to us that is not approved by God.
If we, as Christians, are unable to display the peace that is attained through placing our faith and hope in our God, why should we expect the world to want to get to know Him?
As Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Faith in God conquers all our fears. From soldiers in a fox hole, to the coronavirus, to a little girl afraid of thunderstorms, God is in control and we need to trust and rest in the fact that He will not let anything bad happen to us that is not for our own good.
“And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28