When Fear Takes Hold

A few days ago, mid-afternoon, I was taking our dog, Jack, for a walk beneath an avenue of trees. The ground was no longer muddy, as it had been from lots of recent rain. The wind was gentle, squirrels were leaping from one tree to another. Jack was trotting along happily in sniffing pursuits, criss-crossing from one side of the wide path to the other. It was in the midst of this peaceful scene that sudden fright made me stop solid in my tracks.

Just ahead, a man was crouching behind a tree, staring at us. I could feel my breath coming in shallow intakes. “Come on, Jack,” I called, trying to sound nonchalant. “Time to go.” Jack stood looking at me as if I had lost my mind. It couldn’t be time to go. We hadn’t gone the length of the path. Even so, when I turned to go, Jack zoomed past me, still happy in his pursuits. Occasionally, I glanced behind to see if the man was following. I saw nothing but did’n’t slow my pace. After all, he could be coming, darting from one tree to another. When we reached the car, got in and locked the doors, I felt my tense body relax into relief mode.

A few days later, Jack and I returned to this much-loved path, happily beginning our trek again. I felt no sense of danger, but as we neared the tree from where the man had been hiding, lo and behold, there he was again! What? Now something was definitely fishy about this. Fear of earlier days was now replaced by curiosity. Determinedly, I walked toward the tree, with the man still crouched behind it, only to discover, it was a bush! I laughed at myself, feeling relief and silliness at the imagined dangerous man I thought had been there to cause harm.

We all deal with such fears as we go through life, don’t we? There are very real fears, even healthy fears, such as not going too near a fire for fear of getting burned. There are emotional fears: how to pay the bills when there’s no more money in the bank, close friends have slipped away, your spouse seems preoccupied with other things, work demands are becoming impossible to face, health of a loved one is failing, grief for one no longer here is at times suffocating, and on top of it all, God seems far away.

Fear of the unknown, not being able to guess what tomorrow will bring, is one of the most frightening fears of all, but it’s speculative and dangerous to spiritual and emotional health. When we spend time running away from imaginary men hiding behind bushes, we lose, both inner peace, and the joy of what the lost moment could have given. For every child of God, when fear takes hold, and our minds begin to speculate about what tomorrow may bring, that’s when we must, for sake of good mental spiritual health, remind ourselves of just where God is in our every moment. He’s right there: in your past, your present, and future — all at the same time.

He sees what is coming before it begins to happen. In the Old Testament, when Joshua was appointed the next leader of the children of Israel, Moses gave him the best of advice. He said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you or abandon you” (Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT). That promise applies to us today in whatever we are going through. Fear may come, but it need not take over. It need not shatter our peace. It need not destroy our joy. It need not confuse direction for us. Whether real fear, or imaginary men behind bushes, our loving, Heavenly Father is already there. He has never left us, nor will He ever do so.

Therefore, walk on. Continue in those things you know to do: talk to your Heavenly Father about everything, take time to listen for the Holy Spirit to say, “this is the way, now walk in it.” Meditate upon the words of His love letter to us, because it is alive and powerful, going into our most innermost being, bringing healing to all our hurting places. Praise Him for all He has done for you; praise strengthens our trust. Since nothing is impossible with God, then nothing we fear is too much for Him to handle, and handle it He will, with great love for each of us.

Let us not be slowed by fear of what the next moment may bring; let us walk forward, head held high, as we soak continually in our Father’s love, direction, and inner peace.