Before this devotional goes any farther, please understand that I am truly a Halloween grinch. My family and I have never celebrated Halloween, for it is a holiday that honors, not Christ, but the dark side; and I do not wish to honor the devil in anything that I do. But perhaps the part that puzzles me the most about Halloween is this: Why do people take pleasure in setting up scary scenes and in putting themselves in scary places?

This all makes me think. Just what is it that we fear the most, anyway?

For my wife, it was to have breast cancer. Guess what? She went through breast cancer in 2012!

For me, my greatest fear was developing dementia. After watching dementia steal the minds of my mom and grandmother, eventually necessitating their placement in nursing homes… It wasn’t for me! But as the regular readership already knows, 7 years ago I was diagnosis with what I feared the most: dementia!

Perhaps the hardest part of the diagnosis was the thought of having to go into a nursing home. Having experienced them with my mom and my grandmother, I certainly didn’t want that for me! I even asked my wife to promise she would never let me be put into a nursing home. She made that promise, but with a catch. She promised that as long as she could take care of me, she would keep me at home. Since my wife is strong and healthy and takes care of herself, I understood and took great comfort in the fact that I wouldn’t ever need to be in a nursing home. However, as the regular readership already knows, in August 2024 my needs reached the point that my wife could no longer meet them. She kept me at home a lot longer than most people thought she should have done; but I eventually got to the point that a nursing home was my only choice.

My two greatest fears came to be realized.

Job could relate to this: “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.” (Job 3:25 NIV). Why is it that what we fear the most comes to be?

I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that bad things happen to all of us. The Bible says, “There is no fear in love.” (1 John 4:18a NIV), yet we all know that just because we become followers of Jesus Christ, we aren’t shielded from trouble. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” (John 16:33b NIV).

Perhaps the secret to all of this lies in the parts of the above texts that I didn’t quote. You see, 1 John 4:18 goes on to say, “But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (vs. 18b NIV). Perfect love.

Our earthly love is selfish and near-sighted; the only source of perfect love is Jesus Christ. No matter what happens to us, we can rest assured that in His love, the God who sees everything and knows what is best for us even when we don’t has the power to remove our fear!

As I sit in a nursing home, I realize that even though what I feared the most has come to be, it isn’t all bad! God is here with me! He is helping me to find joy in my new life! The staff are wonderful, loving and caring, I have a place where I can pace all I want and no one tries to stop me, they have music regularly, which I love, and the doctors are providing the proper medication so that my behavior is improving and I can feel happy once again. I never needed to fear a nursing home! I could have taken comfort all along that God’s perfect love would take care of me, even in the face of my worst fears!

Jumping to the second verse I quoted, when you read John 16:33 in context, you see Jesus saying much the same thing as what is recorded in 1 John 4:18: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)! Notice this: Jesus tells us we will have trouble so that we can have … not fear … but peace! Why? Because He has overcome the world! This means that if we put our trust in His perfect love, He will bring us through with … peace!

My wife can attest to this. She writes in her book, Aboard God’s Train, that she is thankful for being chosen to go through breast cancer, for it was in that valley that she truly encountered God’s peace, the peace available to all of us in troubled times!

Job can attest to this as well. He humbled himself before God and his life was restored (See Job 43)!

As for me? Well as I said, I am content where I am. I know that God, in His perfect love, is leading and guiding me and providing me with care for every need. He is right here with me, carrying me through. He has given me peace, even in the midst of dementia. Even in a nursing home.

I still don’t understand why people would go out of their way to scare themselves and others on Halloween; but I do understand that there is truly no reason to fear. Our Father, who loves us perfectly, will bring us contentment and peace, no matter what we face!

What do you fear?

Take courage: God’s love for you is perfect! He will carry you through!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries