by Vic Ryan Agot

Created on: September 02, 2009   Last Updated: September 12, 2009

It is said that fear is one emotion that is pre-programmed into all animals and people as an instinctual response. In our infancy, we already developed fear; we are afraid that we might fail in the final exam and we are afraid that people may say bad things about us if we don't live up to their expectations. And yet, as we grow old, fear has also grown up on us; we are afraid we might be rejected by the company we are applying for, we might lose our jobs and we are afraid we would run out finances in the future.

People go to great lengths to evade the outcome of such fear. We cheat in tests to achieve fraudulent high scores. We wear masks and conform to crooked norms to be accepted by the society. We establish false identities and step on others just to clinch that position we direly wanted to hold. We lure others into scams and leave them bankrupt just to secure our future. Fear can render us powerless and in order for us to avoid any adverse result, we give in.

We are humans and we have fears in each of us. Fear has two definitions; one is to be afraid of something. At times, like the Apostles caught in the middle of a storm with Jesus, we are overwhelmed with fear that we become desperate and resort to evil things instead of turning to God for guidance. Psalm 55:22 invites us to Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you. We forget God's great love for all of us that He sent His only begotten Son to save us; "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, John 3:16. Jesus taught us peace and love for only "Love casts out fear" (1 John. 4:18).

Yes we all have fears but we should only succumb to that other definition of fear, which is our reverential awe of God; as what is said in Proverbs 9:10 that, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". It is only when we revere and love God, as He had unequivocally loved us in the beginning, that we can overcome these fears that are dragging us down to a life of sin. Yes, we fear and we sin; but all we have to realize is that the distance between our worry to its solution is just the distance between our knees to the floor; we just have to kneel and lay it all to him, "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' so we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'" Hebrews 13:5-6.

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