The plot of the summer movie The Sum of All Fears, starring Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman, has an uncanny similarity to recent news stories. The movie centers on two CIA agents who try to stop the detonation of a nuclear bomb in Baltimore, Maryland. The arrest last month of a suspected terrorist who purportedly had plans to detonate a so-called "dirty bomb" in Washington, D.C., makes scenes of nuclear devastation on the big screen uncomfortably threatening.

In the movie Affleck's character, Jack Ryan, discovers through careful investigation that a neo-Nazi has planned the attack on Baltimore in hopes of finishing what Adolph Hitler started—the destruction of Russia and the United States. By manipulating the flow of information, the bomber leads US authorities to believe that their old archenemy, Russia, is instigating the attack.

Not only does the plot tap in to the world's current fears of terrorism, but the movie rehashes all the old paranoia of an all-out global nuclear war. Yet this time around, the nuclear confrontation wouldn't be caused by rivalry or ideological differences—the destruction of the two great superpowers would be the result of misinformation carefully planted by an outsider with a personal and vengeful agenda. Perhaps this could be viewed as a cautionary tale since today, in the real world of terrorist threats and the danger of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, the need for clear thinking and reliable information is imperative.

While The Sum of All Fears provides nail-biting tension, it also makes me think that arming ourselves—even with nuclear devices—isn't what ultimately brings us a feeling of safety and peace of mind. One of the important ironies of the movie is that in the end we discover that the nuclear weapon targeting Baltimore was actually American-made. And in a real-life parallel, the would-be bomber arrested in the dirty bomb plot is reportedly an American, trained by Al Qaeda terrorists. These ironies make me think of Jesus' words that "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" (Matt. 26:52).

From this perspective, it seems clear that lasting peace and security—not just physical security, but also peace of mind—will not be achieved by weapons, no matter how effective or destructive they are. At the same time, we can achieve peace—and peace of mind—through common understanding and trust. In the real world, just as in the movie, an instigator always waits, ready to attack and often—through deception and exploitation of basic freedoms—right from within the victim's own borders. These can be physical borders, national borders, or the borders of thought.

In spiritual terms, this could mean that fear lurks on the periphery of our own consciousness. We cannot let this fear in or let it seem powerful, or else it wins. Just as Affleck's character combated misinformation about who the real enemy was in the movie, individuals must combat the misinformation that they are helpless in a dangerous world. Because the fact is, everyone can trust God's promise: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness" (Isa. 41:10).

Even in the face of nuclear confrontation, or the fear of random terrorism in cities, we can trust in the omnipotence of God to sustain us, individually and as nations. This helps lift us out of fears.