We typically associate fear with bad news—a serious diagnosis, an unexpected loss, or a crushing failure. But what about the times when good news itself becomes the source of our anxiety?

Consider Sarah’s story. When her manager called her into his office for her annual review, she hoped for recognition and perhaps a modest raise. What she received instead was a promotion to director—the kind of opportunity people work years to earn. Yet instead of pure elation, Sarah felt a wave of panic. Am I ready for this? What if I fail? How will this change my life, my family, and my schedule?

Sarah’s experience reveals an important truth: we’re not just afraid of things going wrong. Sometimes we’re afraid of things going right.

The Women at the Empty Tomb

This paradox of fear and joy finds powerful expression in Matthew 28, where women arrive at Jesus’s tomb expecting to grieve. Instead, they encounter an earthquake, an angel shining like lightning, and guards collapsing in terror. The massive stone sealing the tomb has been rolled away.

The angel’s message cuts through the chaos: “Do not be afraid. He is not here. He is risen.”

What happens next is remarkable. The women flee the tomb to find the disciples, but Matthew describes their emotional state in an unusual way—they experience both “fear and great joy” simultaneously. Not fear or joy, but fear and joy at the same time.

This combination seems contradictory. Shouldn’t the good news of the resurrection eliminate their fear entirely? Yet the text is clear: the joy doesn’t erase the fear. Both emotions coexist as the women run to share their incredible news.

Why Good News Can Be Scary

The women’s fear persists for several reasons, all of which speak to our own experiences with transformative moments.

First, the experience itself remains overwhelming. An earthquake and an angelic appearance don’t become less intense just because they accompany good news. The women are still processing what they’ve witnessed—an encounter that has completely upended their expectations.

Second, and perhaps more significantly, this good news changes everything. If Jesus has truly risen from the dead, their lives will never be the same. They are no longer simply followers mourning their teacher’s death. They have become witnesses to resurrection, carriers of a message that will transform the world.

Resurrection doesn’t merely restore the past—it creates a new future. Stepping into that future requires change, growth, and adaptation to a completely new reality. And that’s frightening, even when it’s wonderful.

This is why we sometimes resist the very things that would bring us the most joy. When a door opens, when a relationship has the potential to be restored, or when we sense God calling us into something new, it demands change. We must let go of our expectations, release our grip on control, and grow into a version of ourselves we’re not sure we’re ready to become.

Two Kinds of Fear

The guards at the tomb also experienced fear, but with a dramatically different result. While the women’s fear eventually mobilized them to action, the guards collapsed “like dead men,” completely paralyzed.

What accounts for this difference?

The guards were utterly unprepared. They had no framework for understanding what was happening. They weren’t part of a faith community shaped by Scripture and stories of God’s surprising interventions throughout history. The earthquake and angel came from nowhere, with no larger narrative to help them make sense of it.

Additionally, the guards may have realized they were on the wrong side of what God was doing. They had been guarding a dead man, ensuring the story ended with a sealed tomb. Now the tomb stood empty, and heaven had broken in. If this Jesus was who he claimed to be, they had made a terrible mistake.

Finally, the angel offered the guards no comfort, no reassurance, no “do not be afraid.” They were left alone in their fear with no good news to transform it.

The Difference Faith Makes

For the women, everything was different. They knew God. They had heard countless stories of how God shows up in surprising ways—stories of angels appearing to their ancestors with messages of “do not be afraid.” While this experience was overwhelming, it wasn’t completely unfamiliar.

They also knew the story of God’s faithfulness and goodness, which gave them a framework for understanding these frightening events. Something bigger was happening, something that fit within God’s larger purposes.

Most importantly, they received two crucial messages: “Do not be afraid” and “Jesus has been raised from the dead.” Unlike the guards, they weren’t discovering they were wrong about Jesus. They were discovering they had been right all along. And this realization sparked joy.

The joy didn’t eliminate their fear, but it transformed it. It changed paralyzing fear into mobilizing fear—the kind that wakes you up and moves you forward rather than shutting you down.

Meeting Jesus in Obedience

As the women obeyed the angel’s instruction—running to tell the disciples despite their fear—something remarkable happened. Jesus suddenly appeared before them.

This detail helps us to see that clarity doesn’t always come before obedience. Sometimes it comes in the middle of obedience. We don’t always get all the reassurance we want at the beginning. But as we take steps forward while still afraid, while still figuring things out, Jesus meets us, strengthens us, and guides our next steps.

Think of it like stepping stones that light up only when you stand on them. You don’t see the whole path illuminated from the start. You see the next step only as you take it.

When Jesus appeared, his first word was “Rejoice!” Then he said, “Do not be afraid,” and gave them the same mission the angel had given—to go tell the disciples.

The Choice Before Us

God is always bringing good news into our lives. God is always trying to do something new in us and around us—something good and transformative. And if we’re honest, part of us is afraid of it.

Maybe it’s a new opportunity or a relationship that needs healing. Maybe it’s a calling we’ve been resisting or a challenge to take our next step in faith. The fear we feel might not be a sign that something is wrong. It might be a sign that something is right.

We have a choice. We can experience our fear alone, trying to handle it ourselves, and let it shut us down. Or we can hold our fear within the story of God’s love, faithfulness, and promise, allowing joy to rise alongside it so that our fear becomes something that moves us forward.

Fearless faith doesn’t mean never feeling afraid. It doesn’t mean having everything figured out. Fearless faith means trusting God enough to move through fear toward promise and joy. It’s trusting that God is at work even when we don’t know what’s coming next.

What if the thing that will bring you the greatest joy is the very thing you’re afraid of? What if the new life God is offering is the very thing you’ve been resisting?

Because Jesus is alive, fear doesn’t have the final word. The worst thing is never the last thing. And the life into which God is calling you is better than the life you’re afraid to leave behind.