From 2001 to 2006, NBC aired a show playing on the fears of people aptly called Fear Factor. This show placed contestants in ridiculous circumstances to see whether or not they could overcome a particular fear. Challengers experienced everything from drowning in a car to being attacked by a dog to eating a pig’s snout. Did I mention it was ridiculous? At the end of the show, the last one standing won the grand prize.
The show’s premise struck a chord with its audience, and really with all of humanity: the fear of facing death. Where Fear Factor had built-in safety features around their stunts, real life does not. However, God has given us comfort in our fear of death: His presence.
Long before a reality show dealt with this fear, David wrote about it in the 23rd Psalm. He said, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). No one likes the thought of passing away. But when death’s shadow stands across the valley of our life we do not have to fear. Our Great Shepherd will be with us, and He has already defeated death and the grave. For the believer, death is simply the entrance into the reality of God. Therefore, fear is not a factor for us.