You gain strength,
courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look
fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, “I lived through this
horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”
(Eleanor Roosevelt)
What are you
afraid of? Some of the most common fears are the fear of heights, closed in
places, certain animals and death. However, the most common phobia, and the one
that tops the list each year, is the fear of speaking in public. Year after
year, in surveys, the fear of public speaking ranks higher than the fear of
death!
What do you
do when you’re afraid? Most of us try to avoid any circumstance where we come
into contact with our fears, but what do you do when you are faced with
something unexpectedly that scares you? Do you freeze up? Maybe your first
response is to run. For some people, an unexpected scare puts them into fight
mode.
When we are
faced with something that rattles us, our brain usually takes a second to
evaluate the danger. Many times we are able to function rationally, see that
the fear does not put us in imminent danger and walk away. However, what if the
thing that we face is much bigger and stronger than we are?
A lady in
Salina, Kansas had an experience last week that most of us would prefer not to have
in our lifetime. She was with her family, enjoying the circus that was in town
that day. She needed to use the bathroom, so she left her seat and went down
the hall. As she was walking toward the bathroom, a lady and her daughter passed
her and informed her that a tiger had gotten loose.
She didn’t
think much about it until she opened the door to the restroom, which
automatically closed behind her. When she looked up, she found herself face to
face with a huge tiger. She said, "It was the closest I have ever been to
a tiger not in a cage. You don't expect to go in a bathroom door, have it shut
behind you and see a tiger walking toward you."
She said
that her experience as a social worker helped her keep calm. She stated, "I'm
always on alert, and it was easy to walk out; that's how I am trained. Looking
back, it was a scary ordeal. At the time, I was thinking I just needed to get
out."
What would
you have done? Would there be anything in your past experience that would have
helped you stay calm and alive in that circumstance? The woman slowly backed
away, calmly opened the door and walked out. Could you have done the same?
The Bible
has a lot to say about fear. Sometimes, we fear the unknown. Other times we
fear the situations right in front of us. Whatever the things are that cause
you to fear, God knows and sees everything. If we put our trust in Him, knowing
that He loves us more than anything in the world, then we can face those things
that shake us out of our comfortable existence.
Paul reminds
us in 2 Timothy 1:7, that fear is not of God. It is something that the enemy
has used since the beginning to bind us and keep us from experiencing the
fullness of life, that God intended for us to have. Think about how many times
the scripture reminds us not to be afraid. God knew, as the Bible was being
written, that this would be one of the toughest things for us to overcome, so
He made sure that we would have many promises in His Word to help us resist
fear.
Most of us
will never walk into a bathroom and find a tiger. However, there are many
things that we face each day that make us fall short of the blessings God has
for us, because of fear. The woman used her experience to escape the encounter
with the tiger. We can use our foundation in God’s Word to ward off the enemy
and “fear not!”
This is my command—be
strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God
is with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9)
