Facing Your Fear

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Facing Your Fear

Fear. This is an emotion of which I am all too well acquainted. Now look, I am not talking about awe and reverence of God in this post, which is the way “fear” is sometimes used in Scripture. I am talking about a kind of emotion that is intense, sometimes paralyzing. I am talking about the heart-racing, sweating, shaking-in-your-boots kind of fear. Merriam-Webster defines it this way: “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.” 

The common denominator in all our fear moments is our thoughts. Our thoughts are sitting in the control center of our bodies—the brain. When we experience a situation that could trigger fear, our bodies go into a Fight, Flight, or Freeze mode. Our brains tell our bodies to tackle the source of the fear, run from it, or stay paralyzed by it. 

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Fight

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Fight

To play out the “might happens” and “what ifs” time and again. To be consumed and strangled by thoughts of things that may never happen. To trade present joy for fearful, future, thoughts thus missing out on today. 

These are the thoughts and feelings that I have when I worry, when I give into and become consumed by anxious thoughts. 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ruler, against the powers, against the world forces of the darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Fighting against the spiritual forces of wickedness or evil. No wonder it’s so hard to fight against worry. Worry isn’t something that can be grasped and thrown away. It can’t be physically removed. It is a battle of the mind, where all sin starts, where Satan can hit the hardest, where he can create an entire world of false “truth” that affects our physical actions and our lives. This in turn ripples out and affects not only our lives but the lives and relationships of those around us. Tragically, the ones we love most end up getting the brunt of our false truth, our alternate reality.

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