How Does Fear Rob Me? Let Me Count the Ways...

I'm afraid of you. Truth be told, you're afraid of me (and others) too. And, sadly, that fear is a thief that we let rob us.

In her post, "10 Ways Fear Robs Me," Hilary Tompkins lists those ways and then offers helpful words on how the Gospel liberates us from fear. Here are her "10 Ways Fear Robs Me," the explanations of each you can read at the post:

1. Fear robs me of experiencing God's favor.
2. Fear robs me of hearing God's voice.
3. Fear robs me of honor and obeying God's leading.
4. Fear robs my trust in God.
5. Fear robs me of pursuing conflict resolution.
6. Fear robs me of receiving correction.
7. Fear robs me of being fully known in community.
8. Fear robs me of gratitude and joy.
9. Fear robs me of my voice.
10. Fear robs me of rest and peace

Here is her helpful conclusion:

The Secret to Dealing with Fear and Anxiety

Ed Welch, author of Running Scared and When I Am Afraid, offers some thoughts on fear and anxiety from 1 Peter in his post "The Secret to Dealing with Fear and Anxiety."

Here is his conclusion:

“Humble yourselves” is the only exhortation in the passage. This is what Peter wants us to hear (and obey). If we jump in at the middle—it makes no sense. We can’t cast our cares on him until we have recognized that he is God and we are his servants who have also been elevated to become his children. A paraphrase could read like this (and I highly recommend putting Scripture into your own words.)

Humble yourself before the Lord. This shouldn’t be too difficult. After all, he is God and King, Lord of all. He is the Creator. You belong to him. The creature is the possession of the Creator. Humble yourself before your King. And here is one way to express this new-found posture of humility: cast your cares on him. Did you catch that? When you come humbly before the King he reveals his unlimited love. Who would have thought? He actually wants you to cast your burden on him. You were never intended to carry those burdens alone. He is the mighty God who never leaves. You can trust him. And this casting is no mere act of your will. It comes as you know that he is God and you are not. Oh, and you can be sure that he will lift you up from your kneeling position and give you more than you ever expected.

A little wordy, in contrast to Peter’s more succinct version, but rambling and embellishment give us more time to meditate on the logic of the passage.

The secret is to

…pause before you head into your favorite passage on fear,

…consider the greatness of God,

…add some of your own confession and repentance as a way to drive the message of humility home, and then

…remember some of those sweet words of God to fearful people.

Read the rest.

An Inside Look at Everyday Paranoia

Ed Welch, author of Running Scared and When I Am Afraid, offers a fascinating look at how paranoia and suspicion work in his recent, humorous post, "Paranoia: A Personal Case Study." Here are some excerpts:

I am not trying to minimize the life-dominating nature of paranoia. I am trying to normalize the abnormal. Scripture indicates that we are more alike that different. As such, the unusual problems are more-like-us or less-like-us rather than different-than-us. 

Take my mini-paranoia, surround it with people I don’t know well, and a mere paper clip could trigger suspicions. It doesn’t take much for all world events to somehow connect to us, and it doesn’t take much to develop an endless suspect list....

...Evidence rarely dislodges a paranoid interpretation.

My guess is that there is a lot more life-dominating paranoia around us than we think. For every public display of paranoia there are hundreds who sit quietly in their fears. Our worlds are never quite right and it is easy to tell a credible story about who is to blame. Conspiracy theories abound, and you can be sure that many conspiracy theorists drift off into other types of paranoia. Fears don’t like to be contained; they spread. And they can be very confident in their interpretations.

...Paranoia is fear run amok that is unaffected by the evidence.

Here's his conclusion:

What is a Christian to do when the possibility of a conspiracy abounds? Rest in the undisputable evidence: Christ has come and has proclaimed no condemnation to those who throw in their lot with him. God is not out to get us. Rest is the natural state of a Christian. Then, whether other people are really after us or not, whether they are friends or enemies, we turn the other check and surprise them with grace. Certainly there is much more we could say, but this is enough to keep a paranoid person busy for a few decades.

Read the rest. 

(I'm fairly certain Ed Welch was aiming this post at me...just like I'm posting it with you specifically in mind!)

Luther: How to Fight Guilt, Depression & Anxiety

“But battle against that feeling, and say, ‘Even though I feel myself completely crushed and swallowed by sin and see God as a hostile and wrathful judge, yet in fact this is not true; it is only my feeling that thinks so. The Word of God, which I ought to follow in these anxieties rather than my own consciousness, teaches much differently, namely, that ‘God is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit’ (Ps. 34:18), and that ‘He does not despise a broken and contrite heart’ (Ps. 51:17).”

~ Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians: Chapters 1-4 (as quoted in Schreiner, Galatians)

The Psalms, the Cross and the Definition of Deliverance

"At first glance, the Psalms seem to be little help. So many psalms speak with confidence about deliverance, but you feel it would be presumptuous to claim that deliverance as your own. This is a different era, after all. No longer does God bring glory to himself by a human kingdom that stands for his righteousness against the surrounding idolatry. Now he brings glory to himself by allowing the church to multiply, sometimes through the suffering of its people.

"When the Cross became the pivotal point in human history, the definition of deliverance changed. It had once meant temporal deliverance from neighboring marauders. Now it means that you could die for the cause of Christ but still be delivered from the worse or 'second' death."

~ Ed Welch, When I Am Afraid: A Step by Step Guide Away from Fear and Anxiety

Trust, not in deliverance, but in God

"God might bring deliverance that saves you from your present difficulty, but he might not.

You don't trust in deliverance; you trust in God."

~ Ed Welch, When I Am Afraid: A Step by Step Guide Away from Fear and Anxiety


 

Three Books on Anxiety, Worry & the Fear of Man

Three great books by Ed Welch: