The Wages of Fear
To feel fear, many psychologists say, is normal. And healthy, as well. Fear protects us from many disasters and from committing excesses. It makes us vigilant of our conduct and of the pitfalls of living.
Fears are part of learning, part of living, part of life. Fear of harsh consequences keeps us from making serious blunders. It keeps us working hard for good results. It compels us to exercise good judgment always.
We can, indeed, be wiser and safer by heeding our fears. We can be more productive, too. Fear can make us more thoughtful of our involvements; and prompt us to be more conscientious in our undertakings, lest we will fail. In the area of relationships, we become more devoted to our loved ones, for fear of losing them from our lives.
All of us have fears, no matter how self-assured or solid some of us may appear to be on the surface. The only difference is that some people do better in either concealing or dealing with their fears. It’s a survival art.
And yet, there are those who will swear of not being afraid of something that others fear. They can’t explain it, but they’re just not afraid; the feeling of security seems natural, innate. It’s like some subconscious assurance that whatever little risks or horrors there may be, these do not matter in the bigger scheme of things.
We shall always check our hesitations and our fears, to understand what makes us cow out from life. Why do we dread taking or making a certain phone call? Why are we avoiding certain people or issues? Why are we keeping ourselves too busy, what are we trying to run away from?
At times our fears hinder us from doing what we need to do. This is the downside, an extreme that is all too common. We withhold our kindness from our poor neighbors, because they might grow dependent on us. We avoid showing our affection to our loved ones, because they might become abusive. Fearful of what the outcome of our good deeds will be, we choose to be cold.
Life is so short, for us all, that we must make the most of it while we have it. Thinking of the limitedness of our earthly life should be enough to send us trying to do the most we can with our time. Why watch life happen, shivering behind closed windows, when we can go out and live it in joyous participation?
Our experience of life depends upon how we regard our day-to-day events – either with joyful expectation or with fearful apprehension. With expectancy, living can be much fun. With apprehension, life becomes a nightmare.
“Be not afraid,” we have been instructed by Christ. Not that we must ignore our fears. We must, as a matter of fact, face them, to release ourselves from their bondage. We have been given the assurance of final victory. And that guarantee holds for us today, as it did for them in the past and will continue to be so for all generations yet to come.
God knows our human frailty, and yet He allows it. He understands fully well why we insist to rely on our own worldly wisdom. We are afraid that He may not always be there in our times of need. It’s our doubt of His love that saddles our life journey.
We have been assured: “No one will stray so far away from me that I will not hear when he calls.” It’s our doubt in that promise that makes us fear. And the wages of such fear is misery.