“There’s been a bombing at the marathon.” The man said to the person on the other end of the line.
That’s weird. I thought to myself. What is he talking about? I was in the airport waiting for my plane to head back home.  30 minutes later as I board the aircraft the TVs in front of each seat are playing CNN. So that’s what it’s about. But I don’t get my headphones out to listen.
3 hours later I sit in the Denver airport watching snow drift quietly down outside the window. It’s amazing! It’s snowing in April. But it feels like I haven’t seen winter in a year! Actually it’s almost true. The guy next to me never stops talking to his girlfriend on the phone. It sounds like he’s never seen snow like this before. He’s worried that the flight is going to be late. He might get stranded in Denver because of the snow! I can’t help but shake my head. I figure that the Denver airport knows how to deal with snow.
An hour later I’m walking down the narrow corridor to board the plane. I scoop up some snow that drifted through a crack at the top of the wall. It’s nice to feel winter again! The snow melts in my hand as I walk toward the plane.
This time I get a window seat. We taxi out toward the runway through the falling snow stopping at the de-ice station. After a long wait the captain comes over the PA saying that we can’t take off because the tower is calling it ‘heavy snow’. We taxi back to the gate and wait for 45 minutes till the snow lets up. Quickly heading to the de-ice station the surface of the aircraft is washed and we take to the skies.
Again the TVs are tuned to the breaking news. This time I pull my headphones out and plug them in to listen. The news sinks in. The blast. Shrapnel flying everywhere. The big fireball. People running for their lives. Some falling down dead. It’s a tragedy. Yet still I watch. The news repeats itself. The reporters keep reporting. Stories of heroes. Doctors. Policemen. Runners. Going beyond the call of duty. Treating, rescuing, donating blood. But the question is asked, “How could this happen?”. Policemen and security personnel everywhere and yet someone planted a bomb! It could happen anywhere. No one is safe! What do we have to do to keep everyone safe? The point drives home bringing with it fear. But… Fear?
Our God isn’t a God of fear. Is he? 2Tim 1:7. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  He certainly is not a God of fear! And He doesn’t want us to be fearful either. It is easy to let fear bear sway. Fear is a powerful thing. But we cannot let it take control of us. We can’t afford to. Even if the odds are infinite, God will still take care of us. And remember: “Perfect love casts out fear”. If we really love God then that same love will ban fear from our lives. God doesn’t want us to live in fear. He doesn’t want us to be controlled by it. He wants to give us the victory over it.
I lean back in my seat and go to sleep. After an hour I wake up over western Kentucky. A huge thunderstorm is flashing light all across the sky. We all will have lightning flash into our life at one time or another. How will we deal with it? Will it control us? Or will we let God’s love cast out all fear?