To Fear or Not to Fear

Ever since the second nurse was diagnosed with Ebola my concern over this issue has grown significantly.  At first I bought into the general consensus that this disease could be contained, and the US was equipped to handle patients in a safe manner.

But now I'm not so sure.

My 'could the world end soon?' antenna is a little higher and I'm bordering on actual concern for a mass outbreak followed by days of being quarantined at home.

At this point, its hard to know what to think really or what to expect.

It seems to me that our current generation is programmed to listen with great interest to news about potentially life altering events, but not to really expect those events to actually affect life as we know it.

While we may fear an Ebola outbreak, how many of us truly think this will happen in America?  What would that do to our national confidence if it did?

If our hospitals are unable to protect healthcare workers from contracting contagious diseases, how many healthcare workers will choose to continue to care for patients?  Could you blame them if they didn't?

I'm troubled by the potential for disaster in my country.  And perhaps equally troubled by how hard it is to believe that disaster could ever impact America.     I'm grateful to live in such a wonderful country, but the reality remains that we live in a fallen world.  And we know the end is coming.

I don't want to be caught off guard like the metaphor of a thief in the night.

I also don't want to live life in a state of fear.  

The same Jesus who promised that the end would come also declared that he came that we might have abundant life.   (Matthew 24:14, John 10:10)

Perhaps one response is to fear ebola and other potential security threats in our country in the sense of being aware of the danger and not ignoring warning signs around us, but also not to fear these things by definition of being afraid of them.

May we be wise in our understanding, childlike in our faith, and unwavering in our trust in God.