Fear . . . Not

I've been thinking about fear a lot lately--about my own fear, and about the fears of others around me.  I'm a different person when my fear, or fears, take hold of me; when I let them, either consciously or unconsciously, rise to the top.  I'm edgy; anxious; fretful and snippy.  I can easily be coaxed into an argument, and teasing becomes serious business.  Really, I don't like to live like that, but sometimes I don't even realize what's going on until I'm in the middle of it--and often that's too late!  I'm not living as the best true self I was created to be.

I see lots of people around me who also live like this:  living and acting in ways that are not their best true selves. They are possessive and controlling; snippy and gossipy; combative, argumentative, and always preparing for the worst.  That's not who God created them to be.  That's not who God created any of us to be.

But I think that so many of these people, just like me, live with a bucketful of fears.  Fear of death; fear of failure.  Fear of loss; fear of change; fear of the future; fear of the past.  For I know that in their deepest places, God created them--and me--to be loving and compassionate.  It's just that the fears get in the way.

What are the fears you live with?  Have you ever stopped to notice how they affect you?  Do they push their way into the midst of your relationships, changing you into someone you're not sure you even recognize?

One of the phrases that is repeated in the New Testament, over and over again--from the mouths of angels to the mouth of Jesus--is this:  "Fear not."  You might say, "Fear not.  That's easy for someone else to say, but they're not living in our shoes.  They don't know the way it is for us."

And you would be right.  But, I guess when it gets right down to the nitty gritty, that's what faith is all about.  If we are going to believe in God and trust in Jesus, we have to believe it all--even words like these that just smack of patronization.  "Don't be afraid," is God's call to us, and God's promise to us.  And, as Robert Munsch says, "A promise is a promise."

So, my friends, I invite you to join me in naming one--just one--fear you struggle with.  And, once we've named that one fear, let's offer it up to God, over and over again.  And as we give up that fear, let's take on the mantra, 'Don't be afraid.'  Or, perhaps you could try, 'A promise is a promise.'  Or, find your own mantra that will somehow remind you that your fear is real, and yet so is your faith.  And with God, all things are possible.