It seems to have been a subject of discussion lately. Well, not directly, people don’t talk about fear. They talk about what they’re afraid of. We just experienced the anniversary of 9-11; that brought up a lot of talk about fear. We are hosting “Love Won Out” here at Southwest. It’s a conference addressing the church’s response to same sex attraction and how to navigate the truth of scripture with the compassion of God. Well, that is also doing a masterful job of pulling out peoples opinions regarding fear. We look at gas prices, housing prices, unemployment rates, the war in Iraq, the threat of war with who knows who… Bottom line: We’re a group of people sitting on pins and needles and for what?
Are you afraid?
You’re not alone. I had to ask myself. What makes people afraid? Well, it’s two things.
First, it’s what you know. If you know there is going to be a certain harmful or unfavorable outcome you can be assured there will be fear leading to the inevitable. However, that kind of fear is avoidable. For example, you don’t get in the car with a drunk driver. Right? But the second thing that makes people afraid doesn’t provide for such a clear and obvious choice. Why? Because if the first thing is “What you know”… the second is “What you don’t know.”
As a kid growing up I was always afraid mostly, because I made things up in my head. Example… Although I never saw it; I KNEW there was a monster under my bed. So, as a result to what I knew; I never put my foot down on the floor. If I needed a drink of water or had to go to the bathroom I would raise my voice to the top of my lungs and plead with my mother until she either brought me a drink or came and turned the light on so I could go to the bathroom (Two points need to be made here: 1. light immobilizes monsters and 2. at an early age I realized that going to the bathroom was something only I could do).
Fear can be a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, we often are unhappy with the choices that are made out of fear because they tend to be quick thereby making uniformed choices or worse yet a decision is made simply as a way of escape. I remember rock climbing with a friend of mine. He was leading the way and knew the cliff we were climbing. He motioned half way up to take a line that he said would look bad but be easier than the one he took. When I pushed up another couple of yards agreeing to his command, I found myself looking up to a blind lead… meaning the rock jutted out and I could not see the rock above. I panicked as I am not an experienced rock climber and we were free climbing (no ropes). I felt stuck. My friend kept saying, “Just reach over the edge. You’ll be fine, there’s a perfect hold right above you.” I kept thinking, “If I can just see the hold I would go for it.” But the idea of taking one hand off the rock semi upside down wasn’t giving me the confidence that I would be “fine.” So, what did I do? I tried to go back down to his line and start over… bad idea. I got stuck and to make matters worse, I put my friend’s life in danger by having him maneuver toward me so I could grab his ankle and pull my way up. This was VERY DANGEROUS for both of us!
I learned a big lesson that day… Know where you’re going and know fear. What I mean is, if you know fear and its effects on you, you can still be motivated by it yet still make the right choice.
The Bible states…
There is no fear in love and perfect love cast out all fear. 1 John. 4:18
I’ve often wondered why John mentioned that it was perfect love that essentially removes fear. Perhaps it’s because our choices in love are a lot like that day for me upon that cliff in Sonoma County. One choice is the right choice. All others, well… let’s just say it’s not a good idea to get stuck and put yourself and others at risk.
