Tag: Fear of death

Overcome Fear – Live Life with Strong Courage

A Story of a Young Queen & Her Triumph Over Fear of Death
Photo by Houcine Ncib on Unsplash

Once there was a beautiful little girl who was raised in exile by her older cousin because her parents were dead and their homeland was far away. She was given a new name, spoke the language of her new country, and was taught to never share her ethnic background. 

One day, as a lovely young woman, she was unexpectedly forced into a mandatory national beauty contest for all young women in the land. Despite the fierce competition, she won! She suddenly gained a crown, a palace, a position as Queen of all the land – and a king for a husband, notorious for his temper and tyranny.

Soon afterwards, an evil nobleman favored by the king rose in authority and used his influence to schedule a massive genocide of a certain people group he hated – little realizing it was the people of the new queen.

Urged by her cousin to use her royal position to plead for mercy from the king, the young queen was shaken and afraid. The king had not asked to see her for over a month, already seemingly indifferent to his new bride. To enter his court without being summoned was punishable by death for the reckless disrespect it showed. 

Once again the cousin repeated his urging – if not her, who? If not now, when? Be certain, he warned, that if she remained silent and did nothing to stop this evil, God would indeed save their people by other means, while she would surely be destroyed for her inaction in this crisis – along with all her family.

Taking a deep breath, the queen accepted her role as advocate for her doomed people, asking only that they first fervently pray for her for three days. Then she would approach the king in his court, illegal though it might be, and risk the outcome – even her own death.

Today is the first day of Purim, the feast of Queen Esther, the courageous queen who acted with wisdom and discernment in interceding for the very lives of her people in the face of what seemed certain death. God – who had made an unbreakable promise to Abraham that the entire world would be blessed through his family – brought salvation to his chosen people, and eventually to the entire world through the birth of the Jewish Messiah Jesus years later. 

While her predicament might seem unrelatable in some ways – not many of us will ever experience pleading for the lives of our people from a despotic king at the risk of our own – if we look at the heart of her fear we can suddenly relate quite well.

What was she so afraid of?

Dying – losing her life and thereby losing everything. Yet her death was inevitable – as is yours and mine. Trying to escape death is futile – it will eventually come (unless the Lord returns first).

What matters is what is done in the time before we die.

What makes the time you have here before your death worthwhile?

What has God called you to and shaped you for? What unique situation and role has been set before you in this season of your life?

What have you been given to do that might scare you? Where have you been called to advocate or shine where you would rather stay silent and hidden?

We will all die. This life is a gift of an hourglass and we all don’t get to know how many grains of sand are left for each of us before we are called home and we fly away (Psalm 90).

What we can do is to be like Queen Esther: Let us first seek our Father-King’s favor and the strength that he gives, pleading with him daily for the wisdom to walk the unique role set before us. Then, let us put on our royal best and, with gracious humility and poise, ACT.

We are not called to live this life safely and silently.

The outcome is not in our hands but the story will not be as satisfying without our courageous actions being part of it. 

Perhaps this is the moment for which YOU have been created.

(Paraphrase of Esther 4:14)

And by “perhaps”, I mean: It is.  You have been placed in this time and this place for a purpose. Fight the fear.

Live courageously. 

We are not promised tomorrow.

Wear Your Crown, Carry Your Sword. – Maria Miller

A New, Cute, & Fierce Animal Hero

A Grasshopper Mouse consuming a bark scorpion
https://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/10/25/3876292.htm

(And the powerful lesson it gives us)

Do you know what animal is/does all these things:

  • – Stalks prey like a cat
  • – Howls like a wolf
  • – Hunts and eats venomous scorpions and snakes
  • – Nocturnal
  • – A distant relation to the common house mouse?

Behold, the incredible Grasshopper Mouse! 

I’m astounded by this fascinating, tiny-but-mighty creature found in the desert areas of southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico.

But wait, there’s more!

The Grasshopper Mouse has an incredible resistance to the toxin injected by the bark scorpions it hunts, meaning that it barely notices when it is stung! 

Unlike any other creature, which would become paralyzed from the same sting, the Grasshopper Mouse has a unique cell make-up which rejects the toxins and blocks the sensory pain signals, even with increasing levels of toxicity, so it carries on as usual – and the scorpion becomes lunch.

I think people who have put their faith in our Savior Jesus Christ are like common house mice who have morphed into becoming like the Grasshopper Mouse.

Sin, condemnation, and fear of death are like the poisonous toxins that bring pain, paralysis and ultimately, agonizing death – no matter how we try to run from it.

Yet, because of the life-giving, powerful infusion of our Savior’s blood, we become transformed (Hebrews 9:12)!

Sin, condemnation, and the fear of death no longer have any hold on us.  Instead, we who formerly were like weak prey, guilty and defeated under the weight of our sin, become free (Hebrews 9:15).

We are now able to do incredible things for His glory through His power at work within us (Ephesians 3:20).

We are now more than conquerors, overcoming all manner of struggles, hardships, trials, sufferings, and losses (Romans 8:37), – because His love is now in our DNA and has created a cellular mutation that renders us immune to the sting of death and sin (1 John 1:7). 

He gave us an incredible blood transfusion that transformed us!

Where we used to be timid and fearful in the darkness of this world, we can now be bold and courageous, behaving not like the skulking, shrinking victims we once were, but like the royally adopted sons and daughters we have become (Romans 8:15).

Where we used to be quiet, perhaps only uttering quiet squeaks in alarm or fear, we can now “howl” out our praises and worship to our God boldly and with thanksgiving in our hearts (Isaiah 24:14, Psalm 98:4).

Because our Savior loved us so dearly, He has taken the sting and suffering of our sin upon Himself, enduring the agony and death we deserve (Hebrews 2:9-10).

By placing our faith in Him, we gain the reward of a life now lived free from the fear of death, free from the stinging shame of condemnation, free from the poisonous toxicity of sin.

We can now exclaim with a new, joyful ferocity: “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)

The Grasshopper Mouse preaches a powerful sermon simply by being itself in its remarkable existence.

I want to do the same.

Let’s live like a horde of Grasshopper Mice: courageous, fierce, free from fear of death.

Maybe we can encourage other house mice to get the same “blood transfusion”, too.

The scorpions won’t know what hit them.

(Do you have any animal heroes?)