A life lived in fear

You may have heard the saying, "A life lived in fear is a life half-lived." I first heard it in Spanish in one of my favourite movies, Strictly Ballroom. And it made sense, sure. But this week its full meaning hit me as never before.

A week ago, missionary friends of ours were attacked by armed robbers.

I don't know all the details, but I know Uncle Craig and Aunt Beth were attacked at home, on a Sunday night. The robbers had been to five other places before our friends' home, but they'd been unsuccessful until they met our friends. They took what they could find, including our friends' car. Both Uncle Craig and Aunt Beth were injured; Aunt Beth was hit over the head and suffered a concussion. After spending a night in the hospital. they were able to go home.

Obviously, this was distressing and frightening news. Armed robberies have been on the increase here recently. Two years ago, there was an armed robbery here on the hospital compound. A missionary kid and our chief surgeon were both shot. But this is the first time I've been in the country when friends of ours have been attacked. I clung tightly to my husband that night; I was so frightened.

But the rest of this week, all I heard from all our missionary friends was the amazing testimony of Uncle Craig and Aunt Beth - their calmness, their thankfulness to God, their joy in the midst of their pain and material loss. And when I heard these things, I immediately thought back to the saying that a life lived in fear is a life half-lived. We have work to do here. We can't get up and leave when things get rough. There will be danger. There will be loss. But we must persist and do so with joy.

And this morning, at church, I saw that joy on the faces of Uncle Craig and Aunt Beth. They led worship at church - Craig at the pulpit and Beth at the piano - and I was so humbled by their obvious joy. God is so good!

One hymn Aunt Beth led us in struck me in particular: "He Hideth My Soul" by Fanny Crosby (full lyrics).

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of His love,
And covers me there with His hand,
And covers me there with His hand.