The "F" Word

F-E-A-R. Probably not the “F” word that you were thinking it was going to be but, by far and away, Fear is a four letter word that has caused and will cause more pain and suffering in your life, and in the lives of those around you, than any curse word ever could. That is, if you allow it to.

Recently I have come to a personal conclusion: The Enemy, Evil, Satan (whatever you want to call it) simply has no greater weapon than Fear. Not one. Not envy or lust or even a thirst for vengeance. If you think about it? Fear is at the root of each of the Ten Commandments. You would have no reason to worship another God before the Lord if you didn’t come to fear that the Lord wasn’t enough in the first place. Most people commit adultery out of the fear that they are not good enough anymore, in life or for their spouse. Others steal...out of fear that the Lord cannot provide for them, or out of greed, which is the fear of never having enough. Fear is the driving force of envy as well. You get the idea.

Fear. Fear. Fear. It is a four letter word, and it will cripple you your entire life. And when it visits to beat up on you, it doesn't come alone. Oh, no. Often it brings a few cousins - anxiety and worry - to help out. Blow by blow, they convince you that you’re not good enough, that you need another drink, that you will never get the job you want, that you’re going to get fired, that you’ll never find love and happiness, or be a good enough wife, or that the test results from the hospital coming this week will bring bad news, or something is going to go wrong, for some reason, somewhere, somehow. The Enemy’s goal is to slowly maneuver you into the corner of The Ultimate Fear: that God has abandoned you. That He doesn’t love you. That you’re a big, fat failure, unworthy of salvation or love.

When you reach this point? What do you do? I recently spoke with a good Christian brother of mine about a fear I have been dealing with for nearly two months now. I had kept it all in, you know, because being afraid is being weak and, like many men, “weak” is not the image I am trying to project (did you get that? I was “afraid” of being “afraid”…and that’s the problem with fears, they multiply like cockroaches). But I got real with him, and I let it all out. “What do I do?” I asked. He smiled, put his hand on my shoulder, leaned in and said: “Hope and pray for the best. Hold firm in that. Don’t call negativity into your life that may not even really be there…but if it is? Well. You fight. Fight hard. In faith.”

I think this is the “good fight of faith” that Paul talks about in 1 Timothy 6:12, Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. This is when you get to call in YOUR cousins: love, hope and The Holy Spirit. When they arrive? It’s not even a fair fight anymore. Because any and every fear, even of death, is nothing in the face of a God who knows you.