Fear

"For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” Romans 8:15

"The commonest and subtlest of all human diseases,” a prominent physician said, “is fear.” Fear is an incapacitating, paralyzing disease. However, we all fear at times, and many carry with them unnecessary and destructive fears.

We’re afraid of the unknown....like the dark and sharks. But bees and wasps kill more people in the U.S. each year than do sharks!

We’re afraid of old age. We idealize youth, and a gripping fear of poor health, senility, and dependency plagues us.

We’re afraid of change. Afraid to plunge into new into new situations, a new job or a new way of life.

We’re afraid of the future.

We’re afraid to risk. Afraid to fail or to appear as if we have failed.

We’re afraid to love. To love is to trust, and the fear of broken trust devastates us.

We’re afraid of closeness. Afraid of getting hurt.

We’re afraid to die. Like Henry Van Dyke said, “Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.”

One doctor observed that, “Fear is the most devastating enemy of human personality.”

But here’s the good news. Unnecessary fears can be conquered! The dreaded disease of fear does not need to hold us back, plague us, or destroy. The courage, and that’s what it takes, to meet fear head-on is at our fingertips.

A slavery abolitionist of the 19th century, Wendell Phillips, made an interesting observation. He noted that it is easy to be brave when all are behind you and agree with you. But the difficulty comes when 99% of your friends think you are WRONG. Then it is the brave soul who stands up - one among 1,000 - but remembering that one with God makes a majority!

You see, courage is simple, a state of mind - knowing that you cannot be defeated. After all, one with God makes a majority!
– Steve Goodier; Treasure Chest