A couple weeks ago my kids ended up in a ghost-story telling session–it definitely prompted some interesting discussions. One of the things we talked about is something I’ve been thinking a lot about in my own life. Have you ever considered how fear works?
As I’ve mentioned before, I love David Eddings’ series that begins with The Belgariad. It’s one that I read regularly. At the end of The Mallorean (which is aĀ continuation of The Belgariad), Eddings’ characters talk about one of the differences between the light side and the dark side: that the child of the light is surrounded by companions who all help accomplish the task whereas the child of the dark stands alone, working with minions rather than companions, if they work with anyone.
The characters realize the dark evens out this disparity utilizing nightmares and madness, that the dark fights a mental battle–one that causes them to fight themselves. I think this is a very apt portrayal of fear. I’m not talking about caution here; we need a healthy dose of caution to keep us from doing dumb things–as Dr. McCoy says, “Fear of death is what keeps us alive.” š
However, the Bible says God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control (2 Tim. 1:7). Or how about 1 John 5:8, “Perfect love casts out fear”? Because of who God is and who we are as His children, fear is not supposed to ruleĀ our lives. I’m sure there are various reasons for that, but fighting ourselves is, in my opinion, a big one.
Maybe it’s just having lived in a state of fear for a long timeĀ and seeing the deleterious effects spread to every area of my life… but I firmly believe we don’t have time to waste on fear–nor do we really want the consequences. My kids and I were talking about how if you stay awake because you’re afraid of a ghost coming in while you sleep, you end up fighting yourself. You keep yourself awake. You make yourself miserable. And all for something that’s not likely to happen.
Fear works well to mess up our lives, but not because of something happening. It works because it turns our own imaginations against us and causes us to self-destruct.
