Fear of Life's Horrors


Nadine loves horror flicks and just so she doesn’t have to wait for Halloween, she bought her favorites to watch when she’s in the mood—Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, or how about this one: House of 1000 Corpses. To me, being scared senseless isn’t fun, but Nadine shrugs it all off and smiles afterwards. She jokes that if she can face these fears she can face anything.

We were chatting recently and I asked if ISIS scared her. She shrugged. I suppose she’s seen worse on the big screen.

I asked her what she thought about North Korea’s new miniaturized nuclear warhead, enabling their crazy dictator to make good on his threat to turn Seoul and Washington into “seas of fire”.  Nadine shrugged again.

Okay. How about terrorist lone wolf attacks here in America? Ebola? Nadine snorted in response. I could tell she wasn’t fazed.



I wondered how she managed to shelve her fears? Today’s news isn’t Hollywood horror; it’s real. Christians in Iraq and Syria know this. So do the kidnapped girls in Nigeria. Torture and torment in so many places. Pure evil. Hell on earth. Nadine nodded sympathetically. She hates evil and its awful abuse.

But she loves God’s Word. She rattled off several verses. Perfect love puts fear out of our hearts (1 John 4:13). She then told me I needed to memorize Psalm 37. Do not fret because of those who are evil…For those who are evil will be destroyed….The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.





Nadine waved her arm expansively and said, “We’re supposed to overcome evil with good. Getting scared doesn’t help. Get over it and help others instead—that’s the way to fight it.”

She would know. Nadine volunteers in a homeless shelter. Every week she makes life better for someone else and as a bonus doesn’t live in fear either.

I needed that lesson. Thanks, Nadine.



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