CAPA Corner: Food for Thought and Welcomed Relief!

    I love the fall!  After the long, hot, and humid days of summer, it is a welcomed relief.  I look forward to the falling of the leaves, football, harvest celebrations, Thanksgiving, turkey, frost (up north) on the pumpkin, pumpkin pie, candy corn, and one of my favorite fall traditions – freshly grated cheese and warm chili on corn chips and fresh apple cider to drink!  Add to this list being able to drive with the window down without threat of heat exhaustion, warm coffee on a frosty morning, candy canes, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, LSU/Alabama game, the SEC Championship, the Christmas Parade, Central Toy Box drive…..what’s not to like about this time of year! With all the great things I just listed, there is one aspect of this season that causes me a bit of a quandary – Halloween.  I’m not asking anyone to agree with me, but let me give you some “food/candy for thought.”
    I have no problem with kids dressing up in cute costumes of their favorite hero, getting together with friends for an evening of fun, fellowship, and getting to enjoy an abundance of sweets (truthfully, as a former teacher, I dreaded the next day after such celebrations of candy consumption.)  However, I have to admit that the focus on ghosts, goblins, horror films, and haunted houses goes against my nature.  These aspects of this holiday serve to stir up or feed on the fear of individuals.  I personally have a hard time trying to reinforce a part of my emotional nature that Jesus Christ came to set me free from.
     Some would say that the activities of Halloween offer a brief distraction from all the horrible things that are going on in the world.  I fail to comprehend why one would chose a momentary creation of fear, real or imaginable, when you could receive the permanent solution to fear.  In 2 Timothy 1:7 the Apostle Paul says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”  The Apostle John reiterates this theme in 1John 4:8 when he states “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”  That’s my point, fear involves torment!  
    Ok, so maybe you don’t buy in to this “food for thought.”  However, here is some more “food for thought.”  Do you occasionally find your thoughts dominated by fear and uncertain emotions?  Do you, at times, feel like what is going on in your life and in the world around you is your own version of a horror story?  Do the past circumstances and choices of life make you feel like you are living in your own haunted house?  Our Heavenly Father so wanted to set us free from fear, that He was willing to send us His only Son, Jesus Christ.  Through a relationship with Jesus Christ, you can have peace and assurance, even when you are facing the most difficult of circumstances.  All you have to do is turn your life and your circumstances over to Him!  That is a welcomed relief!  
    Jesus told us that in this world there would be tribulations but to fear not because He had overcome the world.  He promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us and would provide us with a peace that would never fade away.  So as the leaves begin to fall this season, if you are experiencing fear, dread, or uncertain emotions, be reminded that you can fall into the loving arms of Jesus Christ!  That is great “food for thought!”
Ron Erickson
Pastor, Future Hope Ministries