Repenting of Fear

Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.
~Arthur Somers Roche

So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
~ from Romans 8

Oh beloved, it is true.  There is this threshold in our flesh. There are times where we get bumped around enough that we just want to get up and run, or stand and fight off the attacks that are coming our direction.

Sometimes people say things to us that are so astoundingly hurtful and wrong that we just lie there on the bed and bleed as we try to process the lies they have just spoken to us. Often, words like these come from people who are just trying to make a point and get a little dig into us.  

But, in the doing, the dig is more like a shotgun blast wound upon the recipient. Unknown memories and moments from the recipients past mix with the current moment and the drop of venom in the other’s words and attitude threaten to end any semblance of peace for the hearer.

And often the person who has spoken the words themselves are simply people hurting and trying to compensate for the stresses going on in their own lives at the moment. And somehow, in being stressed about something else, the energy of the other situation is transferred and synergized into words that are much more powerful than the sender ever intended to speak.

And all of this dynamic has a common root: fear.

Fear is the belief that things are not in control.
Fear is the thought that a hope will not come to fruition.
Fear is the anxiety that comes when love is not returned.
Fear is the disillusionment that comes from not being understood.
Fear is the willingness to look away from the solution and solely at the problem.
Fear is the expectation to we will face punishment, even unfairly.

And all of the above is very good news.

What?

Yeah.

Often we get wrapped up in the concept that somehow if we just behave right, and everyone around us does everything we expect, we can find and maintain a haven of peace in our lives. But, the idea that we can create a haven in a cosmos full of chaos is simply a further display of the selfish pride which was destroying us before we met Him.

Can we see it? All of the above are manifestations of a part of a true believer that is dead. The old man in us will want to scream to get our attention and will use any avenue to give itself a voice that will be heard. So, when things start to go a bit bumpy in our lives, the flesh will take every opportunity it can get to scream that it is still there.

What to do? Ignore the voice.  And listen to Him.  For us to try to fight our way back into peace is to continue to lose even more ground in the battle. For the flesh is enslaved to only one master (itself), and that lord has done, and will never do, anything good – ever.

In all of this, The Holy Spirit speaks very clearly to us and tells us of things that are true and noble and just and pure and lovely and excellent and virtuous and honorable and worthy of praise. He speaks to us and replaces the avenues of fear with the Love that dispels the same.

The Spirit affirms that all is well.
The Spirit guarantees our Blessed Hope is real.
The Spirit teaches us that Love moves in one direction.
The Spirit encourages us by speaking His patient understanding of us.
The Spirit puts our eyes back on the Only One who can fix our problems.
The Spirit declares that we are free from condemnation.

And in hearing His voice there then comes to us the opportunity and need for us to change our mind and thoughts completely about the matter(s) before us. We are free, Loved, and part of the family of G_d. Thoughts of fear are spurious eruptions of the flesh. They need to be utterly ignored and abandoned the moment they come up within us. Any other approach is, to put it bluntly, stupid.

So, yeah, this fool of a writer continues to learn this lesson. And in continuing to learn, he is learning that repentance is a continuing process in our life. Oh yes, the need to turn away from the truth is non-existent – but sometimes we do it. However, as unnecessary is the turning away, it is even more vital to turn back to the Truth. For only in the Truth is freedom. The rebellion of doing it our own way is naught but a return to the slavery of the past.

So, are you afraid tonight beloved? Perhaps tonight is the night for a little repentance.

Freedom awaits.