The other day I was getting into my car and my foot began to slip. The very next second my stomach began to twist into a knot. I recognized this feeling as fear. Fear is a primary emotion. Most other emotions are born out of fear. Remember the last time you were angry? The anger was probably the fruit of some fear. Perhaps you were afraid of losing control of something. Maybe you were afraid of being rejected, or perhaps you were scarred of losing someone’s respect. Anger was the secondary emotion that was brought about by fear.
Sometimes what I call love is really fear disguised as love. My love for someone can be misguided fear of being rejected by that person. I am afraid I won’t be loved.
I recently began an inventory of my fears. I started out with the main ones: rejection, pain, death… with those three written down in my journal I thought I was done. I closed my journal and then began to see in my mind all the other things I am afraid of: losing my job, losing my family, sickness in myself or a family member, failure in my art (I mean, really, I like to make art and all, but if no one is looking at it…), making a bad decision, being misunderstood (that one is a biggee for me), being ineffective, offending others… The list has just been getting bigger over the past few days.
The Lord tells us multiple times in scripture, “Fear not.” Therefore, to give in to fear is to disobey God. I am of the opinion that God would not command us to do something without also giving the power to obey the command.
Paul tells us in the second letter to Timothy “God has not given us the Spirit of fear but of love…” The opposite of fear is not bravery or courage… it is love. “True love cast out fear.” Fear can be a motivator. It motivated me to grab hold of the top of my car before I slid underneath it.
Fear can also be crippling. My desire is to let the love of God, the love that has been “shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit,” motivate me.
2 comments:
Hi Gary,
Thanks for your perspective. Your blogs are real and encouraging.
I forgot to write this. Many people are afraid because of what is going on in our country and even in the church.
The greatest blessing that we have individually is that God is our refuge in our time of need. When I was in shock after my car accident I didn't know if I would die. There was no fear. I could not make that happen. It happened because God was with me. He is awesome. Thanks for your teachings.
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