[dropcap2 variation=”coffee”]I[/dropcap2]’ve struggled with fear most of my life. It’s awful. Who wants to be afraid?
It’s no accident that whenever an angel appears in the Bible, he usually begins with “Don’t be afraid.” In fact, this is the most common command in the Bible.
God knows we struggle mightily with fear. Sometimes we might not recognize it as such. Fear can be masked as anger, anxiety, depression, performance, people-pleasing, criminal activity, or addiction. Fear is the root of all sorts of stuff that we would rather be rid of.
So what do we do about it? Here are some things I’ve found helpful:
1. Quit trying to not be afraid.
This was huge for me. I was terrified of being afraid. I saw fear as failure. So I failed – a lot.
You will get scared. Terror will come. You’ll not be able to stop it from knocking on your door.
2. Decide what you will do when the fear comes.
If you can’t stop fear from coming, then the question becomes what will you do when it arrives?
3. Recognize the fear and acknowledge it.
One of my goals is to recognize when I’m afraid and be honest about it. “I’m scared.” “I feel afraid.” “I’m terrified.” I acknowledge the fear simply because it is there. Ironically, rather than giving fear life, acknowledging it actually begins to break its power.
4. See the fear as an object in your hands.
Fear wants to take over. It wants me to give myself over to it. What if I do the opposite? What if I take a deep breath and picture squishing the fear down into something I can hold in my hands?
Weird? Yeah, maybe. But it works for me.
5. Choose what to do with the fear.
If I can picture fear being in my hands, I’m bigger than it is and I can choose what to do with it. I can toss it in the trashcan. I can throw it against the wall. I can place into the hands of Jesus.
Fear has only the power we give it. It will come. When it comes, you get to decide what to do with it.
