We do not believe that the default of the Christian’s mind is to be one of fear, no matter how difficult his or her life might be. For instance, Proverbs 3:25 tells us, “Do not be afraid of sudden terror.” We are not to wake up wondering if terrorists are going to bomb our city or if men with machetes are going to break into our home. We are not to let out minds dwell on hypothetical fears.
The next verse tells us, “For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught” (Prov 3:26). Whether we are in the jungles of Africa or singing worship songs in our North American church, God is our confidence and our hope. He is always with us and our hearts always have the opportunity to experience perfect peace as we think about him and trust in him.
If our minds our freed up from anxieties then they can be filled with thoughts of how to serve others. Proverbs 3:27 says, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” A Bible translator in Cameroon said that, after reading this verse, she committed her life to Bible translation because she believed that she could bless a group of people with the good of the Bible and therefore she should. In the same way, we want to translate the Bible for those who are without the Word of God and we are fighting to keep our minds thinking on “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable” (Phil 4:8) instead of the potential for “sudden terror.”
