Tuesday, September 17, 2013

FEAR


Fear

The word fear has a lot of definitions from everyone’s point of view. We define fear through our past or present experience. Fear is defined as an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat on one’s self.

We all have one thing that we are so afraid of most times, most of them irrelevant and other times relevant things. Most of us just get spooked or scared with no reason. Women are said to be easily scared than men do you agree? Women are said to be the weaker sex because of their inability to manage fear.

Men usually have a good laugh at the scene most women cause when they are afraid, women are said to have no stamina when confronted with a scary situation. For example, I remember tending to my kitchen when suddenly I began to scream out on top of my lungs, my husband came running in fear that something terrible has happened to me, when he got to me, he found out that I was just screaming because of a flying cockroach, seriously they can be really scary.

My husband is mostly around when I need rescuing from bugs insect and rats. Sometimes he and his friends share funny stories of their wives and the scenes we make when we are afraid. Back to my topic “FEAR” I would like to write from the perspective of a woman. It is true that we get scared so easily. The question then is this; what are we really afraid or frightened of? Are they visible or invisible things?

While you think about it, I would like you to write it down, and let’s see how we can help. From a very little research from close friends and family I was able to round up most things women fear. I will list out just a few but will elaborate on just one.

Most women’s fears

v  Sense of belonging (low-self esteem)

v  Fear of not being loved enough

v  Infidelity

v  Fear of not being capable of handling a home / and being  judged

v  Fear of losing a lover to another

v  Fear of intimacy and commitment

v  Fear of how to please my husband and keep him

v  Fear of rejection from family, friends, and lover

v  Fear of intimidation

v  Fear of failure

v  Fear of being a widow

v  Fear of being alone and lonely

v  Fear of how raised the kids

v  Fear of not having kids

v  Fear of molestation

v  Fear of untimely death

v  Fear of the unknown

We most times just sit down and all sorts of evil thoughts come in, when we dwell on them they become our fear. Most people can't tell precisely why they are afraid, or why they think of such fear and evil. They give all sorts of reasons meaningful and senseless. The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown. Fear comes in all forms, shape and sizes; you may wonder if it’s something one can hold yes, the visible and the invisible. Invisible fear can be determined by the degree of importance and the severity or gravity of the situation.

There is this saying that there is good and bad side to everything, in the case of fear it has no benefits none at all. Fear itself is originated from sin. Sin is what paves way to fear. Fear causes the following on one's life

v  Fear causes us to reduces the size of God and elevate the size of opinion of man.

v  Fear causes us to lead people in the wrong direction.

v  Fear causes us to stay quiet when we should clearly speak up, because we think too much about what people would say about us and because we are easily intimidated.

v  Fear causes us to be passive about an issue that the Lord has clearly brought to our attention.

v  Fear causes us to seek consensus rather than seeking the voice of the lord.

v  Fear causes us not to trust anyone, even people who have wronged us in the past seeking for a second chance.

v  Fear causes us to refuse to embrace change because we care way more about being comfortable than being conformed into the image of Christ.

v  Fear causes us to control things and take matters into our own hands rather than trusting the Lord and trusting others

v  Fear causes us to conceal sin and shame in our lives when God’s word is so clear that we should ask others for help.

v  Fear causes us to seek the easy decision rather than seeking the right one.

One of the most frequent commands in the bible is “do not fear “this is a command not just an ordinary suggestion or mere word. How do we now overcome fear? LOVE! Yes, LOVE! Love is the cure and courage is the weapon. You might be wondering what has Love and courage have to do with fear.

Love is the strongest weapon, medicine, charm; you name it, am not referring to love between lovers, family, or friends i am speaking of the love of God. The love that sees no evil speaks no evil and does no evil. Once we adopt this new life style as our own, the ultimate law in the word of God, to LOVE things will begin to get better. There would be no more hate, no more fear. 1John 4:18 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment (Sin).

You will also need courage to chase out fear. You can’t just sit down and chase out fear, you have to take a step and act on it. Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breads confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit at home and think about it, go out and get busy.  Isa 54:4 a “Do not be afraid---you will not be disgraced again; you will not be humiliated”. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering. You need love to be able to forgive and you need the courage to be able to let go of all the hate and fear.

 

Remember FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. The fact is that most of what we fear never happens except we push ourselves in to such circumstance. Live healthy, free without worries and with love.