Fear – A Shrinking Back

            Fear can be a constant nagging, agitating, and even crippling feeling that affects many people. Sometimes we experience it as worry, and at other times it manifests as anxiety. It can disguise itself as something that is important to focus on, or a matter that needs immediate attention; or it can be a concern that if you do not address it, it will immediately alter everything in your life. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “There is nothing to fear but fear itself”.  In life that is commonly true. How many times have we had an enormous fear of something happening; and then it actually does happen, and the thing that we were afraid of happening, when it occurs, is not nearly as bad as what we expected. Sometimes, though, fear is realized when a terrible event does occur, and it was worse than expected. Then that fear can be the fear of something bad happening all over again.  In the Bible, the phrase “Fear Not” is mentioned 365 times. It was so important to God, that he mentioned it enough times to cover every day of an entire year. Why is it so hard for us, though, to give up our fear? Is it because we feel that having that fear is somehow making us feel like we are responsible for the things we can’t control? How much can we really control in our lives anyways? Continue reading →