What we are experiencing in our world today has led into a storm with fearful uncertainty. Illness and death are not new to us, but the fear that the publicity of COVID19 has brought to our society is an addition to the daily fears we all must deal with. As we approach the difficult task of examining our fears, it is important to realize that although fear manifests itself in many ways in our life, there are basically two types of fear. Healthy fear, and harmful fear. I want to talk about healthy fear first. Yes, your read that right, healthy fear. The fact is that some fears are indeed healthy, proper, and necessary. Without fear in our life we would be unaware of danger. Healthy fear is simply the desire for self-preservation. Without it, people would not take appropriate caution against perils or injury.
If you are facing an out of control, speeding car, you get out of the path as far as you can and as fast as you can. If you discover a strange lump in your body, you call the doctor immediately!
Another example is in a story I read as a child. It was about a very courageous, loving, and loyal dog. This dog was taken in by a family and became as much of a member of that family as any dog could possibly be. In the end, this wonderful beast was defending one of the children against a rabid animal. After saving the life of the child and killing the intruder, the dog was carefully watched over by a wise father with an unimaginable depth of gratitude and pain, knowing what was to come. As the dog began to show signs of the struggle with rabies, the father knew a very healthy fear. He knew the fear of the disease which would ravage his four-legged hero. He also knew this disease would, if unchecked, ravage his family - wasting the sacrifice in front of him unless he chose to do the unimaginable. Fighting the overwhelming emotions of unfairness, grief, and disloyalty, he honored the dog's loyalty by putting him out of his agony. In doing so, he once again secured the safety of his family for which the dog had willingly sacrificed his life.
Each of the above examples are the result of healthy fear.
Two acronyms come to mind, Forget Everything And Run, and Face Everything And Rise. No one would argue that each requires courage,action, and common sense. But what if you are frozen in fear? There is one and only one who is able to help. Our loving God has given us the example of many Godly people in the Bible who have faced fear. He does not want us to live in fear or with the devastating results of destruction or of sin which fear can bring into our life! In the following posts I will discuss harmful fear, how to confront fear God's help in defeating fear, and the love and understanding Jesus has of what we are facing.
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