Mr. Hoffey was my 3^rd grade Sunday school teacher. Actually, he taught 4^th and 5^th grade boys too because there weren’t enough 3rd graders to make a class. I don’t remember much about our lessons, which is no reflection on his teaching skills. Ironically, the only thing I do remember didn’t take place on a Sunday morning in one of First Baptist’s basement classrooms.

It turns out that Mr. Hoffey was something of an outdoorsman who believed the road to manhood ran through the woods in the nearby Adirondack Mountains. So at the end of one of our lessons, he announced a class hike. The following Saturday, the five of us – one teacher and four men-in-the-making – left the church parking lot in Mr. Hoffey’s ‘59 Carryall (the original Suburban.)

We arrived at the park and started down a trail that meandered through sugar maples and scotch pine, over rocky escarpments just dangerous enough to make our mothers nervous and our fathers proud. Somewhere along the path Lester Simpson (the names have been changed to protect the naïve) spotted what he was sure was a bear track. “No”, Mr. Hoffey assured us, “that isn’t from a bear. There aren’t any bears in this area.”

Our adrenalin levels had almost returned to normal when Paully McIntyre thought he heard something rustling in the birch grove off to our left. Pete Donovan said he heard it too. . . and more – a growl. “Mr. Hoffey, are you sure there aren’t any bears in these woods?”

Our teacher could sense the impending panic. So in his best Fess Parker, aka Daniel Boone impression, he stated emphatically that “there ain’t no bears in this here part of the A-dir-on-dacks.”

All was quiet for a few more minutes but not necessarily peaceful. The uneasy silence was finally broken by a squeaky voice from the back of the pack, “Mr. Hoffey, does it say that in the Bible?”

I wish I could remember my teacher’s answer. I don’t think he had one. Hopefully unrelated, Mr. Hoffey quit teaching our class shortly afterward.

Fears, whether real or imagined, have a debilitating effect on the soul. And sometimes when we turn to God for assurances, we wonder whether He really addresses our particular fear in His Word. AIDS, dirty bombs, global warming; you won’t find them referenced in the Greek or Hebrew, or even the Aramaic.

What you will find in the Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic is the antidote to fear: peace, mentioned over 350 times from Genesis to Revelation. My favorite peace verse is found in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

The truth is, my classmates and I didn’t need a verse about bears; John 14:27 would have done the trick. It just might work for you too.

Blessings,

Pastor Dave