“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:8–10, ESV)
In 2023, a new word was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. I came across it just this year. I looked it up. The word is “doomscrolling”. Doomscrolling occurs when a person is motivated by bad news in social media, only to obsessively search the internet for more bad things related to that subject. Doomscrolling is known to cause anxiety, fear, and other physical, mental, and emotional traumas in the end user.
As an example of doomscrolling during the COVID pandemic, a man came across an article on social media about predicted COVID deaths. In 2020, the World Health Organization and the Imperial College of London tossed about the suggestion that as many as 40 million people would die from COVID-19 (the actual figure is believed closer to 7 million). As the man read the article, he became visibly upset. His hands shook. He wondered about his own mortality. He worried if he would ever see retirement. He feared which members of his family would die. He researched COVID-19 deaths, then researched the age of those who were most vulnerable to COVID-19, then googled the average age of death in England. He spent something like fifteen hours on the topic. Spurred on with hundreds of doom and gloom articles, the man hardly slept for two days. He was driven into such a frenzy, he had to see his doctor for anxiety medication. Such doomscrolling had wrecked his health, paralyzed him with anxiety, and stressed his every waking moment.
People do not realize that getting caught up in fear is harmful to your entire body. With worldly fear, your brain becomes consumed with anxiety, depression, worry, and many other emotions. Your heart will race. Hormones will be secreted into your blood stream. Even permanent psychological harm can be the result of unmitigated fear if you let it consume your thoughts and invade your calm.
Fear was meant by God to be a life-saving emotion. It was meant to prevent you from putting yourself into dangerous situations, help you run from predators, and keep you safe. The problem is that when worldly fear overtakes you, it can do the opposite. It can become debilitating, dangerous, even deadly. That’s why we have the phrase that a person may be “scared to death”.
Our scripture for today contains interesting commentary on fear. In Luke 2:8-10, the word fear is used twice. In the first instance, the shepherds are “filled with great fear” as they witness the awesome presence of the angel of the Lord. The shepherds were quaking with fear over the power that exuded from that angel. Have there been any moments in your life when you, like the shepherds, were left quaking with fear? What is interesting is the response of the angel to the shepherds’ fear. The angel immediately demands, “Fear not!” Why? The angel was there to bring “good news of great joy” that Jesus was born. The Son of God came to dwell on the earth. There was cause to celebrate. It was a joyful moment where the shepherds needed to trust in God and God’s angel. They needed to be joyful, not fearful.
If you meditate for a while of the use of “fear” in this passage from Luke, you will see two perspectives. The shepherds had an initial fear upon seeing the angel. They began to quake with dread. They did not understand what was happening. However, the angel did not intend for the shepherds to quake with such fear. The angel’s very first words were “DO NOT FEAR!”. Taken in context, this exchange by the shepherds with the angel makes clear that sometimes humans fear when they should not. Sometimes, your natural inclination may be to shake with dread when God actually wants you to “FEAR NOT!”! There are times and places for fear. However, there are times when God wants you to trust HIM; not be consumed with fear!
In today’s world, politicians and governments and malicious entities often use fear to terrorize others. They use fear as a tactic to disarm populations, control the narrative, and bend the will of the people. Even individuals can use the “fear tactic” to manipulate and coerce others. In too many places and ways, fear is wrongly placed. At times like that, God and God’s angels will tell you to “FEAR NOT!”.
It is all too easy in our well-connected world to become consumed with fear when God wants you to be unafraid. It is incredibly difficult not to get caught up with fear and other emotions when sensationalistic articles and stories are purposefully placed on social media to manipulate your thinking. These places are tweaking your emotions, like fear, in order to control your actions. Often, their goal is to keep you in fear while offering up their own solutions to that fear. Essentially, they are generating fear in your heart and soul and mind to transform your thinking along their lines. In such moments, God is still shouting to you today, “DO NOT FEAR!”.
It is incredibly easy to find doom and gloom articles and information on social media. They are meant to stoke your fear, push you to buy some product, urge you to vote a certain way, or control your choices. God does not want you manipulated by fear, paralyzed with dread, or suffering from anxiety and depression brought on by worldly emotional blackmail.
Listen to God’s Word:
““Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”” (Isaiah 12:2, ESV)
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV)
[Jesus said] “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27, ESV)
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, ESV)
“When I saw him [Jesus], I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17–18, RSV)
Since our All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Seeing God is in charge of your life, fear not! God is still in control! God knows your name. God sees your face. God’s angels watch over you. Jesus died to save you. God's got this!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Almighty God, it is to You that I dedicate this prayer!
I will endeavor to follow Your will. I will not be swayed by worldly fears. I will not be controlled by my emotions. I will trust Your wisdom. I promise to search Your Word for direction.
I pray for peace. Let peace reign in my heart. Let Your peace fall from heaven upon the earth. Let your peace fill the hearts and souls and minds of men.
I need to shake off worldly fears and emotional upheavals. I need to trust You more! I need to remain obedient. Let me be an instrument of Your will.
In Jesus, I come to Your throne. Trusting in His word, let me be grounded in Your grace, changed by Your forgiveness, thankful for Your love. Amen.
As an example of doomscrolling during the COVID pandemic, a man came across an article on social media about predicted COVID deaths. In 2020, the World Health Organization and the Imperial College of London tossed about the suggestion that as many as 40 million people would die from COVID-19 (the actual figure is believed closer to 7 million). As the man read the article, he became visibly upset. His hands shook. He wondered about his own mortality. He worried if he would ever see retirement. He feared which members of his family would die. He researched COVID-19 deaths, then researched the age of those who were most vulnerable to COVID-19, then googled the average age of death in England. He spent something like fifteen hours on the topic. Spurred on with hundreds of doom and gloom articles, the man hardly slept for two days. He was driven into such a frenzy, he had to see his doctor for anxiety medication. Such doomscrolling had wrecked his health, paralyzed him with anxiety, and stressed his every waking moment.
People do not realize that getting caught up in fear is harmful to your entire body. With worldly fear, your brain becomes consumed with anxiety, depression, worry, and many other emotions. Your heart will race. Hormones will be secreted into your blood stream. Even permanent psychological harm can be the result of unmitigated fear if you let it consume your thoughts and invade your calm.
Fear was meant by God to be a life-saving emotion. It was meant to prevent you from putting yourself into dangerous situations, help you run from predators, and keep you safe. The problem is that when worldly fear overtakes you, it can do the opposite. It can become debilitating, dangerous, even deadly. That’s why we have the phrase that a person may be “scared to death”.
Our scripture for today contains interesting commentary on fear. In Luke 2:8-10, the word fear is used twice. In the first instance, the shepherds are “filled with great fear” as they witness the awesome presence of the angel of the Lord. The shepherds were quaking with fear over the power that exuded from that angel. Have there been any moments in your life when you, like the shepherds, were left quaking with fear? What is interesting is the response of the angel to the shepherds’ fear. The angel immediately demands, “Fear not!” Why? The angel was there to bring “good news of great joy” that Jesus was born. The Son of God came to dwell on the earth. There was cause to celebrate. It was a joyful moment where the shepherds needed to trust in God and God’s angel. They needed to be joyful, not fearful.
If you meditate for a while of the use of “fear” in this passage from Luke, you will see two perspectives. The shepherds had an initial fear upon seeing the angel. They began to quake with dread. They did not understand what was happening. However, the angel did not intend for the shepherds to quake with such fear. The angel’s very first words were “DO NOT FEAR!”. Taken in context, this exchange by the shepherds with the angel makes clear that sometimes humans fear when they should not. Sometimes, your natural inclination may be to shake with dread when God actually wants you to “FEAR NOT!”! There are times and places for fear. However, there are times when God wants you to trust HIM; not be consumed with fear!
In today’s world, politicians and governments and malicious entities often use fear to terrorize others. They use fear as a tactic to disarm populations, control the narrative, and bend the will of the people. Even individuals can use the “fear tactic” to manipulate and coerce others. In too many places and ways, fear is wrongly placed. At times like that, God and God’s angels will tell you to “FEAR NOT!”.
It is all too easy in our well-connected world to become consumed with fear when God wants you to be unafraid. It is incredibly difficult not to get caught up with fear and other emotions when sensationalistic articles and stories are purposefully placed on social media to manipulate your thinking. These places are tweaking your emotions, like fear, in order to control your actions. Often, their goal is to keep you in fear while offering up their own solutions to that fear. Essentially, they are generating fear in your heart and soul and mind to transform your thinking along their lines. In such moments, God is still shouting to you today, “DO NOT FEAR!”.
It is incredibly easy to find doom and gloom articles and information on social media. They are meant to stoke your fear, push you to buy some product, urge you to vote a certain way, or control your choices. God does not want you manipulated by fear, paralyzed with dread, or suffering from anxiety and depression brought on by worldly emotional blackmail.
Listen to God’s Word:
““Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”” (Isaiah 12:2, ESV)
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, ESV)
[Jesus said] “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27, ESV)
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, ESV)
“When I saw him [Jesus], I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17–18, RSV)
Since our All-Powerful, All-Knowing, All-Seeing God is in charge of your life, fear not! God is still in control! God knows your name. God sees your face. God’s angels watch over you. Jesus died to save you. God's got this!
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
Almighty God, it is to You that I dedicate this prayer!
I will endeavor to follow Your will. I will not be swayed by worldly fears. I will not be controlled by my emotions. I will trust Your wisdom. I promise to search Your Word for direction.
I pray for peace. Let peace reign in my heart. Let Your peace fall from heaven upon the earth. Let your peace fill the hearts and souls and minds of men.
I need to shake off worldly fears and emotional upheavals. I need to trust You more! I need to remain obedient. Let me be an instrument of Your will.
In Jesus, I come to Your throne. Trusting in His word, let me be grounded in Your grace, changed by Your forgiveness, thankful for Your love. Amen.