The Two Sides of Fear
By Kelle Scott (Administration)
Whether we know it or not, fear is one of the greatest driving forces in our lives. It shapes our thoughts and it shapes our actions.
But so many of us don’t understand fear or its purpose, so we allow it to run our lives.
The purpose of fear is protection.
It causes us to stop, hesitate, avoid, or run, when we are faced with something truly dangerous or life-threatening. This is helpful in the case of an oncoming car, poisonous snake or the edge of a cliff.
But the problem is that our minds can’t tell the difference between real, life-threatening danger… and things that are not dangerous to us at all.
Ever heard of stage fright? I suffer from this, I know in myself that there is nothing harmful about being in front of people. Yet public speaking is one of my greatest fears!
When faced with a room full of people, my mind and body enters the same state that it does when faced with real danger: the fight or flight response. My mind freezes, hands shake, and body tenses ready to flee for my life.
Fear fulfills its purpose when it prevents us from real harm; but it destroys our purpose when it prevents us from doing the things that move us forward in life.
Fear turns from protection, to destruction.
This destructive fear raises it’s head whenever we’re about to do something new, or if we think there might be a negative outcome:
- Introducing yourself to someone
- Applying for a new job
- Reaching out to someone in need
- Dealing with conflict
- Starting something new
So what do we do? We stop, hesitate, avoid, or run.
We don’t do the things that we know will take us where we want to go, because we let fear get in the way - even though even the worst outcome in these situations is nothing close to real danger.
Fear causes paralysis, procrastination and inaction.
So what’s the answer to fear?
Faith, and action.
Overcoming fear takes a change in expectation. Fear comes from believing there will be a negative outcome, faith comes from expecting a positive one.
Once we have changed our expectation we need to take action.
Stop procrastinating, avoiding, hiding, running.
Courageous people don’t avoid fear, they take action in the face of it.
I have found in my own life that the more I press on and try and do this, the more I discover that some of things I am afraid of don’t even exist or aren’t really that bad.
In 2 Timothy 1:7, it says:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
I believe that part of having a ‘sound mind’ means understanding and recognising the difference between fear that is protecting you, and fear that is destroying you.
Think about your life right now… are you letting fear hold you back?