Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
The film ‘Of Gods and Men’ was based on events in Algeria in the 1990s. Eight Cistercian monks were faced with the ultimatum of leaving their monastery and calling, or getting killed by Islamic militants. Violence escalated, a group of Croatian aid workers were murdered, but the monks refused all army protection. Each one had to decide for himself whether to stay or go. The film as a whole is a powerful witness to the monks’ love for their Muslim neighbours, and their belief in the possibility of community between the two religions. The audience is left to battle with what decision they might have taken, and whether the monks’ collective decision to stay (and die) was the right one.
I resonate with so much that the monks went through. I admit to living with fear in the immediate aftermath of my own death threats in Burundi, but once processed, those fearful emotions were replaced by deep peace. As one of the monks said: “I’m not scared of terrorists, even less of the army. And I’m not scared of death. I’m a free man.” Free because death is an emasculated enemy for the child of God. As D.L.Moody said: “The valley of the shadow of death holds no darkness for the child of God. There must be light, else there could be no shadow. Jesus is the light. He has overcome death.”
How does that apply to those of us who aren’t living in dangerous places? It comes down to living and taking decisions based out of fear, or of faith. Your decisions to stay or go, to speak or to remain silent, to give or to withhold, will be flawed if they are made out of fear. Trust God. “Perfect love drives out all fear” 1 John 4:18.
Lord, guide me in my decision-making. May I choose to make them from a place of faith rather than fear. Amen!
Leave a Reply