Never not be afraid. 

It’s one of my favorite lines from the animated movie, “The Croods,” which happens to be experiencing a revival in our home right now thanks to my three and five-year-old. Translation? We’re watching this epic flick about every five minutes. 

If you haven’t seen it, it’s the story of an endearing caveman named Grug and his family who are living in prehistoric times and doing everything they can to survive what seems to be the end of the world. Their goal? Make it to tomorrow.

Wait, are we still talking about the movie or 2020? The ironies here are not lost on me. 

Yet on the 21^st viewing of said movie, I realized that Grug and I share the same problem: fear. 

“Never not be afraid” was Grug’s ongoing mantra to his family. Now if we can all get past the double negatives here (he’s a caveman, so we’ll let it slide), Grug’s solution to keeping his family alive was to fear everything. Fear the dark. Fear the beasts. Fear the unknown. Yet for all his good intentions to keep everyone safe and protected, he was essentially also keeping them from truly living. 

“You have to stop worrying for all of us,” protests his daughter Eep.

“It’s my job to worry. It’s my job to follow the rules,” replies Grug. “They kept us alive!”

“That wasn’t living,” says Eep. “That was just not dying! There’s a difference.”

As a parent, I too catch myself more times than not telling my children everything they can’t or shouldn’t do—all with the best intentions. But there’s a fine line between exercising caution and healthy boundary setting and becoming a living, breathing, fear monger. 

Add a global pandemic to the mix, and it seems like the fun police—or perhaps in my case, the fear police—have been working overtime. Like 80 hours a week, less than minimum wage, no coffee breaks, no comp, no time and a half, no benefits, kind of overtime. 

It’s not living…it’s just not dying. Who wants that???

Ultimately Grug had to learn a lesson that…spoiler alert…ultimately saved his family. He learned to look past his fears by taking a leap of faith. He focused on the possibilities in front of him instead of the obstacles. He chose to hope, even when the future seemed uncertain. 

And before you knew it, by the end of the movie he had dropped the double negative, encouraging his family to simply be this: not afraid.

Friend, if I could say one thing to you—and to myself—it’s this: don’t be afraid. Don’t allow fear to steal your joy, to stand in the way of your future, to take away your hope. If you give it permission, it will stay. But if you make room for faith, hope, and love, it cannot survive.

Maybe that’s why there are so many mentions of “fear not” in the Bible. Because if anyone understands humanity and our inclination toward fear, it’s God. He knows how easily fear and discouragement can overwhelm us, and so he reminds us over and over and over again: don’t be afraid. Have courage. Take hope.  

In fact, in this season of advent, I can’t think of a better message we need to hear right now than the one relayed by an angel to a group of shepherds some 2,000 years ago. A message to not be afraid…a message of hope…a message of glad tidings…for you, for me, for all.

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:8-11 (NIV)