Christ alone taught me not to fear

Illness was eating away at my body, and the doctors gave me limited time. I sat in the hospital staring at the ceiling and asking: Is this all there is? Is life just a few years and then ashes? The death I had been running from became a neighbour knocking at my door every day.

Someone brought me a Bible. I read in the Gospel of John: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” These words were not about a body being healed, but about a soul that lives for ever. Suddenly death was no longer frightening.

The illness is still with me at times, but the fear has gone. Christ gave me something more precious than physical healing: he gave me peace in the face of death, and the strength of hope in a life that never ends. Yemen taught me patience, and its mountains taught me steadfastness, but Christ alone taught me not to be afraid.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

John 11:25

The name and details have been changed to protect the storyteller's safety.