Stop Waiting in Fear

Living life fully activated with hope of the future

This was written by my oldest daughter Kiera Antonelli and it was too good not to share. I hope it encourages you and comment below and share it!

The world has always been messy.

My whole life I’ve heard the same thing: be prepared for the day Jesus comes back. When I was younger, I didn’t fully understand what that meant until I read that no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). It was never about packing an emergency bag or creating a plan. It’s about trusting God’s timing and building a relationship with Him in the meantime.

But if I’m being honest, Christians can get so stuck on the “end times” that we lose sight of what God has already given us right now.

Photo by Julie Haider on Unsplash

For generations, people have talked about the end times. And almost every time I hear it, it comes from a place of fear and urgency. Don’t get me wrong, the Bible does call us to be ready and spiritually awake (Matthew 24:42). But readiness is different from panic. Lately, I’ve been thinking about this because of everything going on in the world. Anytime something serious happens, people seem to immediately jump to “this must be the end.”

I’m not a biblical expert, but I do know this: God will not leave us or forsake us. He is kind. He is just. And from what I’ve learned in my relationship with Him, He doesn’t give us a spirit of fear or timidness, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

When Jesus returns, Scripture describes it with a loud command and the sound of a trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:16). It’s powerful and clear. Not something hidden or uncertain. Which makes me wonder why we live like it’s something we’re supposed to fear every day instead of something we trust God with.

As a Christian, it’s honestly exhausting to see how much focus gets placed on the end. It can create this mindset that everything is just leading up to pain and suffering. And yes, there will be hard things, but Jesus coming back is also the most hopeful promise we have. A new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). That matters too.

So why are we putting so much weight on the fear? Why are we acting like the timeline is the main point? Why are we letting it pull us out of the present?

Something about that doesn’t sit right with me. It makes me think about how easily fear and distraction can take our focus off God. Scripture is clear that the enemy looks for ways to do exactly that (1 Peter 5:8). When we’re consumed with fear about the future, it’s easy to lose sight of what God is doing right in front of us.

The world has always been messy. Ever since the beginning, there has been sin, pain, and brokenness (Genesis 3). Wars, sickness, suffering, and chaos aren’t new. Even Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6). Every generation has had moments where they thought, “This must be it.”

Does God want us to focus on the end above everything else? I don’t think so. Scripture points us to something simpler and deeper. We were created to live for Him, to glorify Him, to serve others, and to walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). We were made to build a real relationship with Him and to live that out daily.

God didn’t create us just to wait in fear. He calls us to be ready, yes, but also to live faithfully in the moment.

And when people claim they know when Jesus is coming back, or say they can feel that it’s about to happen, I don’t believe that lines up with Scripture. The Bible is clear that we don’t know the time (Matthew 24:36). And it also reminds us not to worry about tomorrow, because today already has enough to hold (Matthew 6:34).

It’s so easy to get pulled into thinking about the past or worrying about the future. But when we do that, we miss the present moment, the place where God is actually trying to meet us.

When we slow down and stay present, our hearts and minds start to settle. And we’re able to listen and be in the presence of the Lord.

Maybe the point is not to live in fear of what’s coming, but to be faithful with what’s right in front of us. To be ready, but not anxious. To trust God’s timing, while fully living the life He’s given us today.