Fear Fear

Nothing freezes us quicker than fear. Nothing pulls us away from faith more than fear. Nothing overshadows hope more than fear. It's why Franklin Roosevelt was profound in his words to the nation near the beginning of the Great Depression: "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." Once everyone is overwhelmed by fear, hope is lost.

There are many things that we fear in life. Some of the fears we have are welcomed... part of the thrill of a ride or the movie. But most fears are crippling. They prevent us from functioning well in our relationships. Fear brings doubt. Fear enslaves us. Have you ever experienced these fears:

1. "Thrills" - This the fear we choose to face... the feeling you get standing in line for a roller coaster or watching a scary movie. It's fun and though we are afraid we "know" we're in control.

2. "Storms" - This the fear that we will fall victim to just dumb luck. You feel it when a strong storm comes through or when the jet you are on makes some funny noises. "This is it... a tree's going to fall on me." It can be terrifying and lead you to feel as if your life is flashing before your eyes. You've lost control.

3. "Changes" - This the fear that prevents you from making positive changes in your life and instead continue to hurt ourselves and others. It prevents addicts from getting clean, an obese person from losing weight, a diabetic from following a strict diet. The fear of failure is far worse than the fear of doing more damage.

4. "Trapped" - This is a fear that you have fallen into a "pit" so deep that you will never get out. Such a fear haunts the fugitive who cannot escape a pattern of crime. This fear sinks families into hopelessness because they are drowning in debts that will mean loosing their house and facing bankruptcy. Taken to an extreme such fear can lead good people to contemplate suicide.

5. "Illness" - This the fear that comes from learning of a terrible illness. It is like "storms" in that a person faces their mortality, but it lingers on and on because the battle with the illness can last months or years. Such a fear leads to helplessness and self pity and in extreme situations deep feelings of regret... particularly if the illness is the result of poor choices.

When fear takes over a life everyone around the person suffers. It ruins relationships. The light of the gospel is lost in the heart of someone driven by fear.

Jesus gives us permission to live without fear. In a cool story from Matthew Jesus famously walks on water to get to his disciples who are on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. The disciples think Jesus is a ghost when the see him approach. Jesus tells them "Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid." There is no need to fear when you have faith in Christ.

What takes place next is pretty interesting. Peter makes a strange request of Jesus, saying that if he is Jesus he should command him to walk on the water too. Jesus doesn't mind playing along with his foolish disciples at times and does indeed command Peter to come. For a few moments Peter actually walked on the water. But once Peter realized what he was doing he fell in the "Storm" type of fear. Why am I here???? I'm going to drown!

Wonderfully the loving, fear-liberating Christ takes Peter by the hand and saves him. Jesus offers to reach us today with that same hand. Yes, we will be afraid at times and sometimes fall into that trap. But because of our faith in Christ we don't have to remain in fear. Jesus will pull us out of the pit of fear with the hope of his gospel. So don't fear the curve balls life throws... fear fear itself. You might discover you can walk on water too.