Are You Afraid of the Dark?

I'll admit, sometimes I am...both literally and figuratively.

The pastor at the church I've been going to lately just finished a series on Living Without, and today's topic was Living Without: Fear. He began by talking about fear, in general, and told this story. Gunther Gebel-Williams was a lion tamer who performed in circuses all over the country. On one particular night he was performing with Bengal tigers. They were surrounding him in a circle and he was in the center on a stool with a whip. Suddenly the lights went out; the arena had lost power. Gunther couldn't see, the audience couldn't see, but the tigers...they could see. So Gunther, who was surrounded by 20 tigers, couldn't see, and he knew the tigers could see; but he also knew the tigers didn't know he couldn't see. So he kept doing his thing, whipping his whip and working with the tigers, all the time pretending he could see. After a few minutes the lights came back on, and to everyone's relief Gunther was still alive and the tigers were still in order. In all that darkness, Gunther had kept fear at bay.

The pastor then likened this senario to the world. The world, he said, is a dark place, ruled by the Devil. We are surrounded by darkness, but God is the light. He came into the world and said "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand." (Isaiah 41:10)

He talked about three types of fear: fear of failure, fear of rejection, and fear of death. Then of course he gave examples of people related to each of these types of fears. Did you know Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts comic strip and Charlie Brown and the gang, was a complete failure most of his life. Yep; he failed every class his 8th grade year and had to take it over. Then in high school, he failed physics, Latin, English, and math (whatever level he was in). He failed in so many ways, but there was one thing he could do and that was draw. He knew he could draw, specifically comics, so he submitted his drawings to the yearbook committee hoping he could contribute to the yearbook in that way. They said his drawings weren't good enough. Eventually he submitted his work to Walt Disney. He got a letter saying his drawings were good, but they wanted to see if he could take a story and put it into drawings that would make an animation. So he did this and sent his work back to Walt Disney. Again he got a letter; this time it said he was very talented but it just wasn't what they were looking for. Only after all this failure did he create Peanuts. He knew God had a plan for him, and he wasn't afraid of failure because he knew he would eventually find his calling. And, of course, he did.

I think this was something I needed to hear today. Because in this time when I am searching for a job and feeling like nothing will come my way, I needed to remember that God has a plan for me. I need to not fear and remember that there is job out there that God has waiting, just for me.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope.'" -Jeremiah 29:11