It’s only scary because it’s unexpected.

There’s nothing inherently scary about ReadsWithBooks whispering to me.  But a few months I walked into a dark room and before I could flip the light switch he slowly closed the door he had been hiding behind and whispered, “I’ve been waiting for you…..”

I almost jumped out of my skin.  As I turned to punch what I could only guess was a ghost right in the throat I saw my oldest son….about to hyperventilate from excitement because he knew how scared I was.

We’ve all had that happen to us….We get scared of something that’s not scary at all, just because it’s unexpected.

So here’s what I’m thinking.  What if we changed our outlook on life so that we weren’t so surprised about it all the time….wouldn’t life be less scary then?

We always seem so surprised when bad things happen to us.  But isn’t that what happens in life?

We are surprised when politicians lie and pass stupid laws.  But isn’t that what they’ve always done?

We just can’t believe it when bad people do bad things to hurt good people.  But isn’t that what they do?  After all, they’re bad people.

I don’t mean to say that we shouldn’t be surprised when something bad happens to us individually…..  I’d be surprised if I found out tomorrow that I have cancer or if I got into a terrible car wreck.

What I mean is that when we look at life and at our country, when we listen to the awful things that happen around the world….Should we really be surprised that bad things are happening, in general?

I say no, we shouldn’t be surprised.  In fact, when bad or crazy things happen….That’s not “the world turning upside down”, that’s the world doing exactly what it has always done.

2Timothy 3:12-13  Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Paul tells Timothy that bad things will happen to good people, for the very reason that they are good people.  And not only that, but the bad people in the world will always get worse.  And the Bible is full of warnings just like 2Timothy.

Would we react differently to persecution and evil in the world if we expected it?

I think so.  I think that many people live life depressed about how bad the world is and scared of what the future holds only because they’re surprised by bad things.

And being caught off guard by bad things is what makes them so scary.

If you’re caught off guard by bad things happening in this world, It’s only because you don’t trust that the Bible and the warnings it gives us are true.

There’s no way around that.

So put your faith in the Bible and believe that what it warns us of will happen.  Then believe that no matter what happens, God will take care of us.

And suddenly the world isn’t such a scary place any more.  Which makes sense, because it was never intended to be.