On Fear and Dealing with it

                Christians are told over and over again that we are to be fearless, but I never really think that I am supposed to be when I am overcome by fear. My New Year goals involve trying to get rid of my bad habits that inhibit my relationship with God and with people. My writing this and discussing possible solutions is something for myself as well as you, the reader, in the hopes that what I discuss help you if you are dealing with similar issues.

                The first source of my fear comes from work, the most common fear being known as impostor syndrome. For those unfamiliar, it is feeling unworthy of the job one has, or that one will be exposed as a fraud at any given moment. I wonder if the main characters of the Bible stories (Abraham, David, Noah, etc.) ever felt this impostor syndrome. There is a part of me that thinks they did, but they are immediately reminded that they were chosen to be in those positions. This should be something that those of us feeling impostor syndrome keep reminding ourselves. If we have prayed about it and don’t feel God strongly leading us to be somewhere else, then it is very likely that we are where we need to be. We just need to be putting our best foot forward and allowing God to take care of the rest.

                A second source of fear is personal worrying. I tend to worry about things that tend to only be feasible in my head and it leads to me wasting time with the sin and possibly hurting relationships with the people around me. Something that I am working on is talking to the people that provoked the worry in my head, not in a blaming sense, but to just let them know what is in my head and to resolve the issue. If it is something that my own mind has cooked up, I have to stop, breathe, and pray to God and remind myself that He is in control and give my worry to Him. This strategy I have derived from Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

                My third source of fear is from my finances, which I am sure many people deal with in the United States at least during this time. Not that I am in financial trouble or anything, but I am constantly planning the use of my finances which leads to worrying which leads to fear. Now keeping track of your finances and being responsible with them is a good thing and is in keeping with being a steward of what God has given us, but obsessing like Gollum and treating your money like your precious is not. We must keep in mind that it is easy for us to place multiple things in front of Him, but Jesus warns us against the dangers of placing money above God (Matthew 6:24). As long as we keep in mind that everything we have is given to us by God, we should keep our priorities focused on Him.

                Now these are three cases of fear that I encounter in my daily life, I am sure you encounter different sources of fear. While I cannot delve into every one of these, I would like to take a little while to remind you of the God we serve. We serve a God who knew us before we were made, who has created the universe we inhabit, and has sent his son to die for our sins. Many of the verses of the Bible proclaim the strength of God and his ability as a refuge for those who would cast their cares on Him. We need to trust God and follow the commandments left to us in His word, and even if we do not have a comfortable life here, we can be assured to know that we will spend eternity in the presence of God, worshipping Him and fellowshipping with our loved ones. May God bless you and have a good rest of your week.