Someone has observed that there are 365 “fear nots” in the Bible – one for every day in the year. And not a single one is unnecessary! Most of our fears have to do with the future – a time and place we have not yet entered and in which we certainly cannot live. So how do all these “fear nots” in the Bible work?

It is going to sound so simple and yet I always ask those who hear it as too simplistic to tell me another solution to the “fear factor” in life. Biblically we are called upon to live in the present – which means being present each day to the opportunities and responsibilities that belong to us. We do this best when we trust that God really does love us, knows how to take care of us, and will never abandon us. (This, of course, is called “living by faith”). Each day, doing what we know we ought to do, and doing it to the best of our ability, we leave the future to God. Is there any other option?

This principle applies to our lives individually and also to the life of the church. What we are called upon to do as the group of believers known as Broadway Baptist Church is to affirm the gifts that belong to our community, affirm our deepest convictions about life and faith, and invest ourselves fully in doing what we believe in and what we are convinced we are called to do. Then we leave the future to God. We invest fully with the people and gifts and possibilities that are ours right now. We live fully and passionately in the present moment and let the future moments take care of themselves.