Why Are You Afraid?

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28 NLT)

According to Pastor Rick Warren: “Fear is humanity’s most common problem.” While people fear different things, fear is common to virtually every human being in varying degrees.

While doing research I was surprised to see one study that ranked “Social Phobia” as the number one fear. What’s that? It’s fear of being in social situations, including, but certainly not limited to, public speaking. Another site listed “loneliness” as number one.

It caused me to wonder how many of these common fears were exacerbated by the confinement brought about by the Covid virus? I read recently that many young people are continuing to wear masks as a means of protecting themselves, not just from the virus, but socially. They can continue to hid behind their mask.

It reminded me of my “Prom” picture when I was in high school. It never failed. When I had a date and wanted to look my best, zits would appear on my face. What looked to others like a few small red spots, looked like a crop of tomatoes to me. But that’s part of the problem, isn’t it? We magnify our fears in our own mind. We do that with death.

It’s not just death that frightens people, it’s the act of dying. I have little fear of death. In my mind, the sooner I can be with Jesus, the better. What bothers me is the bridge to death. How long will it be? But when we think that way, we miss the point.

Jesus didn’t suffer and die simply to give us life after death. He died to give us life that begins the moment we accept His invitation to follow Him and join in His activity on this planet. The same Holy Spirit that becomes our moment-by-moment guide in this life, is the same Holy Spirit who will be with us every second leading up to our departure into the next life.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15: “Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

What’s the greatest threat of fear? It’s the control of our mind. For example, if I fear public speaking, do I have to be in front of a crowd in order to be afraid? If I fear heights or spiders or germs, do I have to be in the presence of those things in order to be afraid? No! Why not? Because the fear is in my mind, not my presence!

So, what’s the greatest antidote to fear? Change the way you think! But how?

You can only focus on one thing at a time, so, choose carefully what you allow in your mind. Paul writes in Philippians 4:8: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” But don’t stop there. Verse 9 says: “Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

What you think about comes about. If you bridle your thoughts, you give direction to your life. Our goal is to be so busy carrying out the will of God in our life, we won’t have any time to be afraid of anything, except our reverence for and devotion to, our heavenly Father.

Blessings, Ed 😊