"I am afraid of the Muslims..."

Someone said to me: “I pray for the Muslims but I am still afraid of them”.

I think we are caught in a mindset that causes us to be afraid of anything that is unknown and foreign. Add to that the anti foreigner rhetoric and we become prisoners in prisons of our own making.

Let me introduce you to one of our prisons; many of us believe that all Muslims are extremists, and if they are not extremists they are not good Muslims. This thinking is not based in fact nor experience. The majority of Muslims are people like you and I, they love their family, their country and would like to live in peace.

In further discussion that Individual confessed; “actually I am afraid of the world I live in”. Now we are closer to the real issue. The world we live in has always been a scary place. We like things that we can grasp and control. Anything beyond that is unsettling and scary.

May I draw our attention to another time and another place? The disciples of Jesus were becoming aware of the fact that Jesus was not going to give them a quick solution to the problems surrounding them, He was not going to become the conquering Messiah and overthrow the Roman occupation government.

Jesus knew the thinking of the disciples and the fear that was controlling their hearts so he spoke to them words of comfort, word that are able to give us peace and hope today.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful…. I have told you these things, so that in me you will have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 14:27, 16:13.

These words were spoken He on the eve of his crucifixion, you would think he would not be so bold. Notice the tense of Jesus’ words. It is not future tense as, “I will overcome the world, ”but “I have overcome the world.” It is not some hope in the future or some plan, but a done and certain fact.

My friend you can have the peace that only Christ can give by believing in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Paul