Taking the Power Away

Fear. EVERY human being has it. The minute Adam and Eve opened the door to sin, fear became a part of the human existence. The minute they chose to disobey, they were instantly afraid and hid from God.

Ever since that fateful day, humans have been fearful, but not everyone acknowledges it. Some of us have learned to hide our fear—often even from ourselves. Deep down we think that if we admit that we have fears we will be seen as weak or unacceptable or that those fears will be used against us.

The problem is that even if we don’t call it fear, it is still there just under the surface. Unfortunately, we can’t deal with something we cannot or will not name. An inability to effectively deal with our fears keeps us from becoming the person God made us to be and cheats us out of fully experiencing the joy and freedom that is ours through Christ.

Our unnamed fears are probably not of things like spiders, snakes or heights, but of more important, more base things—like the fear of being rejected, the fear of never being good enough, the fear that our needs will never be met if we have to depend on other people, or the fear that if we allow ourselves to trust others or let people see the REAL us we will be hurt.

These unresolved fears fuel compulsive behaviors. Acknowledged or not, they leave an unpleasant feeling that we, instinctively, know we need to avoid. Any number of things, like alcohol, drugs, overeating or, yes, even sex, give us a way to circumvent the pain that the fears create.

The only way to take the power away from our fears is to openly admit them to ourselves and to God. In fact, our Heavenly Father INVITES us to bring these burdens to him and promises that he will not only carry them for us, but that he will exchange the ugliness they create for his protection and peace.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:6-8 (NIV)