Scaredy Cat

Fear can be a great motivator. Be prepared, the well-known Boy Scout motto, advises us to get ready now for potential challenges. If not, there could be bad stuff a’comin’ in the future for which we could end up in a mess of trouble. Fear also sells. Insurance comes in all forms: policies for the unexpected losses, alarm systems, firearms, police and military forces, doomsday preparation kits, etc. Religious affiliations are sometimes motivated from a desire to have security in the realm of the unseen and unknown.

Fear can also be crippling. Certain personalities just seem to be generally more prone to fear and worry, and for them, the compass of life always seems to point in the direction of fear. “See, I told you so,” is their motto. The glass is not only half full, there are waves in it! Being as one might call a “scaredy-cat” a tortured life that sees destruction around every corner, and emotional paralysis develops at the thought of anything risky. Better to stand trembling on ground you can feel than step out and risk getting off balance.

I’ve observed that fear shows up in three general areas: fear of the physical world, fear of the spiritual world, and fear of the relational world.

Physical Fear

Fear of the physical world comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s a fear of things tangible but outside of us: accidents, natural phenomena, diseases. It’s a fear that grows from an awareness of potential harm. We observe it develop in toddlers in the forms of separation anxiety and stranger anxiety as they begin to realize, “Hey, there’s a world outside of me that can hurt me.” There are innumerable medical conditions that results of which can plague our minds. Those that come from without (Can anyone say “pandemic?”) and those arise from within like cancers and autoimmune conditions that wage war against our own bodies. Add to that the natural disasters we hear about daily, out-of-control forest fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. Every time we hop in a car we are aware of the potential for serious injury, so we don the seatbelt. My own fear of heights is something that seems to grow larger with every passing year.

Spiritual Fear

The unseen world, the mystical realm, presents an opportunity for significant fear to some. It is human to wonder about those intuitions we have, a sense that something is going on in the background of our everyday lives, and events that can’t be rationally explained. Writers know how to scare us using word pictures to paint our deepest horrors on the canvasses of our minds. Strange phenomena that seem to go beyond anything we can rationally account show up in our lives also. On the flip side, comfort can come in the form of just knowing that a loved one is close by, or the knowledge of and trust in God who is vigilantly working for our good.

Relational Fear

More nebulous but certainly real is the fear of the relational world. Personal interaction is fraught with potential problems. Can I trust this person? Is this someone whom I should have in my world? Is it worth the risk of trying to get to know this person? Differences between us and even those closest to us are very real. Conflict is inevitable. How do I handle that? What do I contribute to the problems and what is their “stuff”. There is a real fear of being swallowed up by something unhealthy, or having to give up something for the sake of another. Where does commitment and service that enriches a relationship end and co-dependency begin?

Life Beyond Fear

Just as a scalpel can cure, it can also maim. Likewise, fear has its good purpose when it is a life-saving, wise warning system. Fears should be first viewed through the spectacles of wisdom, then studied further through the magnifying glass of discernment from experience. Put the brakes on before coming to the curve ahead, look both ways before crossing the street, heed the lighthouse beacon to avoid crashing your ship. Allow fear to prevent damaging or dangerous decisions, but don’t allow it to paralyze you from experiencing some of the best moments in life that come with uncertainty. When met with unknowns that spawn fear, look to wisdom and experience to help you discern fear that guides life experiences and fear that denies them.