The Evening of Our Fear – Sunday, August 19, 1984
The scriptures speak of faith and the courage that it inspires. Indeed, those who have faith in Christ need fear no final disaster, no ultimate failure. His atoning sacrifice guarantees us that, if we will be faithful, He will overcome the tragedy of the moment. He will deliver us out of trouble into the keeping of His salvation and ultimate peace.
But sometimes it is difficult for faith in the future to inspire courage in the present.
Many years ago, a young boy, swimming in a public pool, cut his foot on a piece of broken glass that was on the bottom of the pool. It was a serious wound, leaving a two-inch gash across the ball of his foot.
The wound was painful, but not so painful as the boy’s fear. It was not a fear of infection or of punishment, but of stitches. He looked at the gaping slash, and he imagined the pain of the suture. And the remedy was more fearful to him than the wound.
So, he elected not to tell his parents of the trouble. He bound the foot as best he could and hoped for it to heal. It did, but it healed open—what doctors call a “plantar scar.”
Years later the boy, now a man, remembers the moment of his wounding and the decision inspired by his fear. “When I go barefoot,” he says with a wry smile, “that old wound breaks open again. I’ve tried to have it repaired now that I am past my fear of stitches, but doctors tell me I’m better living with the trouble I caused than possibly causing worse. Surgery at this late date,” the man sadly recognizes, “might actually produce a scar more painful than the one I have.”
The scar is a relatively minor inconvenience to the man. More important is the lesson it has taught him—that eventually we must face our fear, and the confrontation grows only more terrible as we procrastinate the moment. Wounds that might be treated and healed deepen into scars; scars that would be imperceptible blemishes become more painful afflictions. The soul of a man is not like the sole of a boy’s foot: healing always is possible but more difficult with the years.
Faith is not easy, nor are its remedies without sacrifice. Indeed, for faith to be active in our lives, we must take courage in its power. But the glory of faith is that it not only requires courage but also gives it. And that same Savior who requires the courage of our faith will bless our faith with courage; and, in the evening of our fear, he will abide with us.
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August 19, 1984
Broadcast Number 2,870