Thou Shalt Not Fear!

Do you guys remember Y2K? I remember that whole year, hearing about the doomsday prophesy. All the computers were going to reset, information would be lost, planes would crash, the world would explode and that would be it. The world would end at the stroke of midnight, January 1, 2000. I was13, so I was a little bit freaked out. I didn't really expect anything to happen. I wasn't rushing out to buy gallons of water and thousands of cans of food like some people did...but I had this small idea that "just maybe something will happen". Of course, the ball dropped, the clock struck midnight and nothing happened. We celebrated a new year, and laughed at all the fear based propaganda. Now, the new Y2k is 2012. Apparantly, the Mayans predicted that, in 2012, the world was going to end. In fact, I recently watched a Discover Channel special about this, and they included other prophesies as well (including the book of Revelation...which I never realised mentioned the date 2012 anywhere). So now the fear is mounting once again. The "end of the world" movies are being released, "The Day after Tomorrow", "Knowing", and the aptly named "2012". In fact there were so many of them, that me makers of the Scary Movie franchies came out with "Disaster Movie" to poke fun at them (they are soon releasing "Vampires Suck", poking fun at Vampire Movies...which is about time). Anyway, all of this is causing massive panic. Ok, maybe no massive...but theres a lot of subtle fear. And the closer we get to 2012, the more the fear will build. And I'm not just talking about the London 2012 olympics and their creepy mascots. Anyway, the point is, even outside of the doomsday prophesy, North America, and I'm sure the rest of the world as well, thrives on fear. It's why we watch Horror movies, go on roller coaster rides. We love the thrill. Newscasts generally show all the bad news first, because they know it's what people want to see. Since 9/11, every major event has been met with the speculation that it would be attacked by terrorists. The World Cup in South Africa was filled with security, every Super Bowl is expected to be blown up, the G8 summit in Toronto was feared, the Olympics in Vancouver were in danger of an explosion. Everything is about fear.

But the truth is, there is nothing to fear. We made it through Y2K without any incident, we have moved past 9/11, gotten through the holocaust, the Oklahoma city bombing, the Columbine shooting, WW1 and 2, apartheid...we have made it past all of these things, and more. The world goes on. It continues to revolve around the sun, and will continue to revolve around the sun until God decides to end it. Could it end in 2012? Possibly...but I highly doubt it. God tells us not to fear. He will take care of us. Do not worry about tommorrow, let tommorrow worry about itself. Jesus could practically be saying, "Don't fear 2012...It will all be ok". God also says, "No one knows the day or the hour of my return". I strongly believe that God will return before the world ends...as if the world ends before God returns, he has nowhere to return to. If no one knows the day or the hour, then why are we expecting the world to end in 2012? Why do we predict these things? I'm not saying that this is the first prediction...there have been thousands, probably millions of people predicting either the end of the world or Jesus' return. In fact, a few summers ago, I heard a speaker predict that Jesus would return in the next 20 years. In fact he guaranteed it. Who is he to guarantee Jesus' return? Are you an angel buddy? cause not even they know the day or the hour.

So, I realize this blog is kind of all over the place, but I just want to leave with a few thoughts. Don't Fear. God is in control. As the song goes, "He's got the whole world in his hands". We have nothing to worry about it. And secondly, stop guessing when the world is going to end or when Jesus is going to return. It's stupid, insulting and just creates needless fear. We need to just let things go, move on and live life. We spend so much time in fear that we can't enjoy life. We spend so much time longing for heaven, that we miss out on so much while we live on earth. We fear helll so much, that our whole life becomes a form of hell. We are always loooking to the skies for Jesus, that we neglect to help those lying at our feet. Let's just enjoy life, do our best to live without fear (obviously some fear is good...but you get the idea), and just enjoy life. The world will turn, life will go on, and no matter how crappy and tough your life is now, eventually you will get through it. As Celine Dion sings, "the heart will go on". So will life. Don't worry, don't fear. Everything is under control. Trust God.