Fear is a funny thing. On the one hand it is a gift from God. If ancient people had not been afraid of lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) non of us would be around today. Fear can be very, very healthy for us. It pumps all kinds of things into our blood that makes us stronger, faster, more alert and in general better able to protect ourselves and the ones we love. Like I said, it is a gift from God.
Unfortunately, like all gifts from God we have twisted and distorted the good fear God gave us into something that is destructive and painful. In fact we have become very creative in twisting good fear into unhealthy fear. Some just deny it. To hear them talk they are never afraid. Of course this is a lie. The fear then morphs and comes out as anger or depression or physical pain or any number of negative behaviors and emotions.
Others go to the opposite side and the fear switch is turned on all the time. They are constantly afraid even when there is nothing to be afraid of.
Still others allow fear to become their master. Everything they do is controlled by the need to avoid situations in which they will be afraid. Can't go here or do that because I'm afraid. I'm pretty familiar with this kind of situational fear. Let me just confess, I have a strong fear of heights.
During vacation this year I was with some really great, long time friends and let my guard down. Somehow they talked me into going to the top of one of the mountains in Colorado on... A SKI LIFT! (I think they must have drugged me) To make matters worse they allowed me to squirm in fear for a good part of the trip without the safety bar down! I'm pretty sure I left fingerprints permanently embedded in the steel piping of the lift chair! While dangling in space terrified for my life two thoughts kept going through my mind... First, I'm going to get even for this! ... We'll leave that alone for now. The second thought was a verse from Psalms 56. "When I am afraid, I will trust in God" It is downright amazing how many times you can repeat a verse in your head when you are pretty sure you're going to die.
Now that the fear has subsided I've been thinking about that verse a lot. Sooner or later that verse applies to all of us. When I am afraid. What are you afraid of? For many it is something silly like heights. For some it is much bigger than an irrational phobia. Maybe it really is something that is life altering for you or someone you love. When I am afraid, I will trust in God.
Notice that trusting God and being afraid exist together! One does not expel the other. Trusting God isn't what we do to get rid of the fear it is what we do while we are being scared out of our skulls!
Turns out that God does not scream at us, DON'T BE AFRAID! Personally I've never found that helpful. Instead His quiet voice simply says, trust me... trust me... trust me... That helps, because at the end of the day, I trust God.
When I am afraid, I will trust in God. Psalms 56:3
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