Column by Robyn Honeycut

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Columns | Send mail to The Voice Fear can often be paralyzing My husband and I relaxed on our couch. After-dinner conversation inspired plenty of laughter until I noticed one of our friends staring at something on the floor. He glanced up at me. Then his eyes continued to follow the unknown object as it crept toward my feet. I began to tremble. I have an uncontrollable fear of bugs and tend to scream at the top of my lungs when one is near me. Unfortunately our friend is aware of my weakness, so he played this for all it was worth. In the end I realized that there was no deadly insect. My pupils returned to normal, hyperventilating ceased and threats of injury to our friend commenced. Annoying as the fear of the creepy crawly may be, I believe I am in good company. Most people are plagued with at least one and often many sources of fear: Money--will there be enough of it at the end of the month? Relationships--will I ever meet Mr. or Mrs. "Be Mine Forever"? The future-- what am I supposed to do? Possibly the greatest immobilizing force we will face in our lifetime is fear. Given the power, it will consume our thoughts. By day, fear is bills in the mailbox, turmoil in friendships, poor test scores--by night, sleepless hours as we attempt to calculate ways to avoid its demons. It has been said that 95 percent of the things we worry about don't come to pass. Likewise, most of our fears are never realized. The irony of fear is that it paralyzes us with "what ifs" and "if onlys." A few years ago I bought a T-shirt that challenged me with the message, "What would you attempt if you knew you would succeed?" The idea is to inspire us to limitless dreams because the fear factor has been eliminated. But does the power of positive thinking reflect a godly attitude about fear? Is the solution simply to psych myself out until I believe I can do anything I set my mind to? Peter's success on the water was a tremendous feat. However, belief in himself did not help him accomplish the impossible, and fear that he would fail did not make him sink. The test on the water wasn't about Peter, and fear is not about us either. The question is not "How can we overcome our fears?" but instead, "Who is able to overcome our fears?" The One who is our provider, our lover, our counselor, our source of wisdom. Factor Him into our lives, and eliminating fear becomes possible. "What if" we trust God with the fears and let Him decide what we will face? "If only" we fear His Word as much as we fear the things of His world. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Columns | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2003 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.