If you’re reading this, then all that time I spent watching Zombieland paid off because it means I survived Dordt’s zombie apocalypse. I’m telling you, I’ve never had such stressful walks around campus. All those previous days of walking to class, knowing I’m late or have a test coming up that I haven’t studied nearly enough for don’t even compare to the amount of anxiety and apprehension I had as I walked to and from my different activities on campus during the dreaded outbreak.

Fear is a funny thing, in whatever form or with whatever name you wish to give it; apprehension, anxiety, stress – it’s all because we are scared of something. Recently I read that the most common command in the Bible is “do not fear.” Now, I could be wrong, but I believe that when God tells us to “not fear” that He wants us to, let me see here . . . not be afraid.

So why does God want to eliminate fear in our lives? Well, for one, fear keeps us from awesome things. Fear keeps us from trying that new activity we aren’t sure if we’re good enough at; fear keeps us from talking to that super cute guy or girl that sits right between your sight line and the professor and that’s why you always stare at the back of his or her head; and fear keeps us from trying that new entrée at the Commons that might actually turn out to be pretty decent. Ok, so two out of three of those are probably true, but the fact remains the same – fear keeps us from things. And, to be honest, we all like things; after all, we are Americans.

God’s command to “fear not” is bigger than that. God commands us to not be afraid because with Him, the elimination of fear is possible. God commands us to eliminate fear, not because the idea of a faith without fear simply sounds good, but because we actually can. I John 5:3 states, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

If you are like a lot of people, including myself, one of your first thoughts is something like, “How the crap can you call not being afraid an unburdensome command?” But to answer this question, we have to look outside of ourselves. Within ourselves, and with our own power, eliminating fear is not just a huge burden — it’s impossible. But when we add God to the equation – when we put God at the center of things instead of ourselves – we can look with wide eyes and pure joy as we realize that eliminating fear is possible, it isn’t a burden, and it’s simply because God’s love, grace, and the sacrifice of His son make it that way.

For me, walking outside of the campus center after turning in my name cards was a beautiful illustration. For the first time since Monday night, I could walk outside without the “fear” of being tagged by a maniac running around with a green headband. It was more than that, though. It was the elimination of something that had constantly been there for the last three days. In all honesty, it was a freeing feeling. And I think that this is a fraction of the freeing feeling that God desires to give us through Christ’s death on the Cross.

Alex Updike, Columnist