The Fear of Starting a Family In This Broken World

Last Friday evening, I sat in my car continually refreshing my Twitter feed as I streamed Alan Colmes over my car’s Bluetooth. The horror of the attacks in Paris was evident as the events were playing out in real-time over social media and the public fear was palpable with every live caller on the radio. As the death toll continued to rise, every swallow I took seemed tougher and more strenuous.

Those killed were parents, children, friends, spouses. They may have left home that morning telling their loved ones good bye, unknowingly for the last time. They may have been at a concert with their friends, never to be seen alive again.

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Sitting in my car, I was overcome with grief and despair. My heart was broken for those families whose lives will never be the same, and my selfish mind was shattered at the thought of what our world has become.

For months, my wife and I have been praying for the opportunity to have the joy of bringing a child into this world. But with every school shooting, terrorist attack and hate crime, we couldn’t help but wonder why in the world we would want to expose an innocent child to the cruelness of this broken world.

Now that Islamic State is claiming more is on the horizon, we are seemingly given additional reasons why we should spare this unborn child inevitable grief.

However, as my prayers this week gravitated toward the growing reach of evil in our world, my heart kept nudging me to search for answers. And that search led me to Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Throughout this week, that passage has continued to work inside of me. The fears that have been on my heart regarding the birth of a child in this world have quickly become a driving force behind my renewed enthusiasm.

As our world grows darker with violence and increasing racial divide, it is so easy for us to cower inside our homes and shield ourselves from the evil outside.

But we were not created to be overcome by fear. Instead we are called to overcome that evil with good.

I am no soldier brave enough to fight evil in the battlefield, and I am no politician searching for ways to keep us safe. Yet, as a normal citizen, I have the power to overcome evil with good on an everyday basis – beginning with my family.

As a parent, one day I will have the greatest responsibility God has given me – the ability to shape the lives of my children. And by raising them with love and grace, my wife and I can leave our own small imprint on this world.

Instead of being crippled by the fear of what next act of evil lies ahead, we should be rejuvenated by the fact that we have each been given another day – another opportunity to battle the evil of this world first hand.

We can battle through the encouragement of love even in the midst of seemingly unlovable circumstances.

We can battle through the avoidance of fearmongering in a society that thrives off of it.

We can battle through prayer and meditation.

We can even battle by simply having an open conversation with our children.

Our world is at a critical moment in our history – and the path of our future lies in the balance. Many will tell you that there is nothing we can do about it, that violence is now unavoidable.

However, that is not the case. It will take everyday people like you and me to bring light to a world so void of its existence. And that begins will not allowing fear to dictate our lives.

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