Fear and uncertainty are two familiar acquaintances to the recovering addict, and the chaotic world around us is a potent reminder of that truth.

As I reflect on the strange and perplexing year of 2020, now nearing its end, the tentative nature of the opening year of the twenty-first century’s third decade brings to mind fear and uncertainty.  Since March, the mainstream media has inundated us around the globe with daily reports of case surges and a steadily climbing death rate from the Covid-19 virus.  Fear of a possible war between the U.S. and China—now the new emerging superpower with nefarious intentions—has spawned increasing concern for many in the free world.  Suspicions abound about the efficacy and side effects of an accelerated development of a Covid-19 vaccine.  Conversely, media-alarmed masses eagerly await the injection they believe will spare them (and others) from the dreaded Wuhan plague...

The Bible is rife with accounts of God’s servants achieving unbelievable feats in the face of fear and uncertainty.  Abraham left his native country and ventured into unknown territory by entering a new land and trusting God with the life of his son to fulfill a destiny that would affect millions.  Moses led an entire nation out of captivity in the face of derision and suspicion in the very people he was helping, in a terrifying wilderness.  The apostles followed Christ and suffered persecution and death so that much of humanity might enjoy eternal life with God.  Their responses weren’t perfect but God still achieved His desired outcome. 

In my own experience, I spent many years taking the cowardly ‘path of least resistance’ when faced with fear and uncertainty.  The tragic irony of this response is that the comfort it promised me was only a mirage, a believable lie from the devil.  As it says in the Word of God, “there is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 16:25, NASB).  It seemed safer for me to get high or acquiesce to my lustful nature.  My obsessive-compulsive disorder affirmed that response, but in reality, it was destroying me....