Recently I had the wonderful privilege of holding a revival meeting in the city of Las Vegas. Since it was only four hours from our college campus, I was able to teach class each morning, drive to the meeting in the afternoon, preach, and then return later that night. The interstate heading into Las Vegas is lined with billboards advertising any number of attractions in “Sin City.”

As I would make my journey up I–15, the first billboard I noticed each day was bright yellow with a very frightened woman pictured. Her hair was standing straight up, her eyes as big as saucers, and her mouth opened as if she were screaming. In big black letters was the word “FEAR.” (I think it was advertising some ride at a theme park or casino.) I couldn’t help but think how ironic it is that the world tries to allure us toward something as negative as fear! As a four-year-old boy I recall being afraid of the dark. (In those days we didn’t have night lights, and if you turned on the big light or got out of bed you got a spanking.) So I would just lie there and be afraid. But my mother had placed a glow-in-the-dark plaque on the wall that said: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” I would look up at that plaque and even as a little boy, I knew that God was with me. While I have outgrown my fear of the dark, there are things in life that can be pretty scary. I am thankful for 2 Timothy 1:7 that says, “For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Read more »