Attacked by the Fearings

The main character in Hannah Hurnard's classic allegory Hinds Feet on High Places is a little cripple named Much Afraid.   She is held captive by her relatives, the Fearings, and engaged to be married to Craven Fear against her will.  I relate to Much Afraid.  On her own, she is weak and vulnerable and always at the mercy of her fears.  Through the course of a long journey with Sorrow and Suffering for companions, she learns to trust the Shepherd.  He leads her away from the Fearings and toward the high places.

I think that those of us who are prone to fear tend to have a certain member of the Fearing family assigned to us.  The theme of my fears is usually the breaking of relationships.  According to Readers Digest I am in good company.  People in many parts of the world fear loneliness more than anything else.  Other people are plagued by different fears.  Some people fear that they are not good enough.  Other people fear poverty.  The Fearing family is very large.

It usually happens like this; I am working away in my own little world, happy and at peace.  Then, some discord happens.  It could be a disagreement with my husband or a feeling of distance between me and one of my children.  Somewhere at the other end of the house Craven Fear has climbed through a window and is creeping up behind me.  Suddenly I feel his icy fingers around my neck, choking me.  I can't breathe.  His gravelly voice growls threateningly in my ear.  "You are alone, and you are mine."

There it is.  That is the lie that gives Fear his power.  The second I choose to believe the lies that I am alone and at the mercy of Fear, I am lost.

But the truth is, I am not alone.  My Shepherd is with me, right beside me. "The Lord is at hand." Philippians 4:5. The truth is, I do not belong to fear. I have been purchased at a very high price by my Shepherd.  I belong to Him.

Sometimes when I first feel the icy breath of Fear on my neck, I close my ears to the lie in time.  I turn to my Shepherd and grab His hand.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7
   

What Do You Fear?

People around the world were polled about their greatest fear.  They were asked if they were more afraid of being alone, going broke, losing their looks, or speaking in public. This month's Readers Digest summarized the results.  People in nine out of the sixteen countries polled chose loneliness as their greatest fear.  More people in the U.S. and six other countries chose going broke as their greatest fear. 

Maybe the fact that Americans fear going without money more than we fear going without other humans exposes us.  Six of the seven countries that listed going broke as their greatest fear are "highly industrialized".  Isn't that interesting?  Those of us who have money are most fearful of losing it.  Maybe people who don't have any money anyway are wiser; they know that being penniless isn't the worst thing that could happen.

The poll did not ask people if they ever feel fearful.  It assumed that they do.  I suppose that the experience of fear is universal.  Only the degree of fear or what triggers our fear varies.

I'm curious.  How about you?  What are you afraid of? 

My Happiness Habit: How to Avoid Being an Extreme, Raving, Self-centered Lunatic.

I have been thinking about developing a new habit lately.  Admittedly, most of my habits are accidental bad habits.  But, this time I am trying to grow a new, good habit.  I want to be a person who is deep down, on the inside, content.  I want to be someone whose joy can coexist with pain.

My guide is the apostle Paul.  In Philippians 4:4-8 he is closing his letter from a Roman prison with some quick advice.  The fact that Paul wrote this advice while sitting in a damp, stinky prison with rats for company makes me want to listen.  If Paul could be content there, surely I can be content in the midst of my everyday hassles.  Towards the beginning there is a sentence that seems out of place to me.  In my English Standard Version Bible it says, "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone." It is sandwiched between "Rejoice" and "the Lord is at hand; do not be anxious..."  If I was helping Paul edit his letter I would have suggested moving that phrase somewhere else.  What does reasonableness have to do with either rejoicing or anxiety? There must be some reason that it is stuck in this incongruous place.

What is "reasonableness" anyway? I am no Greek scholar, but I can navigate references so I looked it up.  The same word is translated, gentleness, unselfishness, and moderation.  Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (in my mind I always think Strong's Exhausting Concordance...) says it means appropriate, and by implication, gentle, moderation and patient.  This is starting to make more sense.  Paul is saying don't be unreasonable, harsh, extreme, and impatient.   

I think another key is in the next phrase, "the Lord is at hand." 

The Message says, "Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!"

I am picturing the frightened cry of a small child who has had a bad dream.  The mother dashes in to soothe the child.  She wraps her arms around her.  "Don't worry, Mommy is right here."  Her presence soothes, comforts.  Nothing can frighten the child now.  She can be reasonable instead of afraid because she knows that her Mommy is able to vanquish all the monsters under the bed.

So, like that fearful child I can rejoice.  I can be reasonable and gentle and unselfish.  I can keep from overreacting.  The Lord is at hand.