6.3

Isaiah 41:10

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I’m not too good at this verse for I am afraid a lot.  I’m afraid of what others think of me.  I’m afraid of failing.  I’m afraid of pushing my procrastination too far so that I will never finish my homework in this life time.  I’m afraid of spiders.  I’m afraid of living on my own and having to kill all the spiders by myself.  I’m afraid of snakes.  I’m afraid of centipedes and millipedes.  I’m afraid of a lot of the little creeper crawlers.  I get afraid when a dog barks at me, whether I know the dog well or not.  I’m afraid a lot.

So then God says, “Do not be afraid,” and I’m all like, “Well, I’m sorry that I’m human!  When I stop being afraid of things will be the day that I die!  Until then, well, it will just have to be one of my sins!”  But that’s just it.  I am afraid of things because I am human and I am a smart person.  Only fools aren’t afraid when they look down just before they bungee jump.  The only way that they aren’t afraid is because they are too stupid to realize that they should be afraid.  They should be afraid of what will happen in the cord fails.  People who don’t feel fear do stupid things that a normal person would know better than to do because of a healthy respect to what the consequence may be.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” -Nelson Mandela

The thing is, I don’t think God is telling us not to be afraid at all.  That is what gets people killed as they do stupid things in the name of not being afraid.  I think that he’s telling us not to let that healthy fear overwhelm us and stop us from living.  I may be afraid of what others think of me but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop putting myself out there, open and vulnerable, in the hopes of making friends.  My fear of procrastinating too much will help me keep up to date on things.  I may be terrified of spiders but I can kill them when necessary.  My grandparent’s dog may bark when I hug them so that I keep flinching but I am still going to hug them.  I was afraid but I did it anyway.

God gave us fear, just like he gave us pain, to benefit us.  I am afraid of heights because I know they can kill.  I’m afraid of spiders and getting bit because I know that there are poisonous ones out there and they will hurt.  I’m afraid getting close to fire because I know it can burn.  Those are all healthy fears.  But I am not going to let my fear of heights prevent me from going on a zip line or flying to England.  I’m not going to let my fear of spiders prevent me from cleaning the house.  And I’m not going to let my fear of fire prevent me from having a bonfire.  They are fears, yes, but they don’t control me.

The thing is, when we trust God, even these fears do not seem so important and are easier to overcome.  We don’t have to try to fight our fears alone but we can pray to God and trust him to keep us strong.  Trust him to keep us fixed on him.  We can trust God more than we fear our fears.  You may never stop being afraid of public speaking, but you can trust God to help you through it so that you can honor him through it.

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