fathom blog

- fear -

 

 

dear fathom family: i am afraid of a lot of things. i have many fears.

 

i afraid of jumping from high places. cliff-diving: not fun to me.

i fear jalapenos.

i am afraid of failing.

small yappy dogs that bite scare the tar out of me.

i am afraid that there was a wnf devo on ‘fear’ just a few months ago.

i am afraid of being the same person in five years that i am today.

i fear not being liked.

i am scared to be somewhere that has weird food and un-acceptable toilet facilities.

i am afraid of letting my yard be un-kept and letting it look like poo.

i am afraid of dreaming too small.

i fear going to a restaurant by myself and being that guy that takes up a whole table for himself.

scary moves actually scare me.

i am afraid of being afraid.

  

we all have fears of this or that. some of them are silly – some of them are life & death serious to us.

 

my dog is afraid of water hoses.

yesterday, my mom was afraid that she was going to help in a way that wasn’t what God wanted.

my friend’s two year old is afraid of simply being talked to sternly by his father.

a kid i was talking to awhile ago is afraid that his girlfriend and drugs won’t be enough for him.

my cousin is afraid he will never do what he enjoys in life.

a friend of mine is afraid he won’t ever be the father he needs to be.

my roommate is afraid of hugs.

 

 

what is up with this ‘fear’ junk? why are so many of us afraid of things? and not necessarily shakin-in-our-booties scared either – just simple, everyday life things that we fear.

 

what do you fear? what are you afraid of?

(psst… for you newbies/talkers…this is the part where you stop and actually think and take your time and write things

down in the space below to help you process these thoughts. this is the part where you ignore your buds and sit in solitude with God for a little while and be honest with Him and yourself. this is the part where you slow down.)

 

when did we get so fearful? when did we get to a place that normal things in life – and not little things like spiders – but things like people’s perceptions and opinions and our own image and dreams and loneliness cripple us in fear?

 

what emotions are you experiencing when you are asked to list things that scare you?

this is of course assuming you actually listed out things honestly and not just pretended to be real.

does it make you feel [silly-scared-vulnerable-weak-immature-confident] or anything in between?

 

 

 

 

 

if you haven’t been in the church world more than a few days – you might not know that the most common phrase in the Bible is simply ‘do not fear’ or ‘do not be afraid’. what is up with God needing to remind us over and over (and over a few hundred more times) to not fear? perhaps He knows something we don’t. or at least He knows and can see something that we forget far too often in our busy and fear-driven lives.

 

read 1^st john 4:13-19

 

good job. now slow down and read it again.

 

 

what is God?

 

what place does fear ultimately belong in our lives when we know that we are loved by God?

 

what drives out fear?

 

 

so is it like a sin or something to fear? is it bad that i am afraid of lots of things? what do i do with my fears? what do we do with the things that scare us the most? i don’t think it’s a bad thing to be afraid of things. many times it keeps us from getting eaten by the neighbor’s psycho dog or keeps us from climbing on the ceiling fans. and many times it reminds us Who holds and loves us through our fears.

 

i don’t think it’s a bad thing to be scared.

 

but it can’t end there.

 

you have to do something with your fears. verse 18 says that ‘perfect love drives out fear’. it drives it out. i think our fears allow us to return to the God who is Love. so He can deal with them and love us in the midst of our fears..

 

i don’t think it’s a bad thing to be scared. i don’t think it’s a bad thing to be reminded of Jesus and His perfect love for us and the way He is perfectly in love with us.

 

it makes life less scary.

 

i asked a lot of hard questions tonight. and that’s okay. allow your brain to work – even though it’s summer – and don’t run off and escape from what God is trying to teach you. sit, stay awhile and listen – more than you talk – with God for the next few minutes. don’t be in a hurry.

 

enjoy His perfect love.