Lets talk fear.
I will be honest that I am prone to fear. Working through it has been my life anthem. No matter what season I go through, it seems to be the central lesson God wants me to learn.
I write the most about fear because I have so much experience facing it.
Right now the world feels a little scary. Maybe not to everyone, but for my fellow worry-warts out there, this post is for you.
With all the hysteria, cancelations, and shut-downs, caused by COVID-19 , I understand why people feel helpless, on-edge, and anxious.
The stock market has taken a hit, and people’s finances, health, and well being are called into question.
It is easy to allow the uncertainty, unfamiliarity, and unpredictability of this crises to allow fear a permanent bed in your heart.
We can not control what is happening to us, but we can control what is happening within us.
If there is anything to learn from the past, it is that humanity is capable of incredible courage, incredible compassion, and incredible ingenuity and resiliency in the face of disaster.
When we face hardship, as humans, we have two responses.
We can respond in panic, greed, fear, and selfishness.
Or we can dig deep into our character and choose to respond in peace, courage, and compassion.
It is instinct to respond in fear. Therefore, we must be intentional to respond in courage.
My instinct is to worry about my parents who are in their sixties. And my nephew who is a month old. And my finances as I am still waiting on applications and interviews to come through.
But when we open the door for fear, we open the door to all of his nasty friends; desperation, irrationality, selfishness, greed, anger, and panic.
You and I were not called be consumed by fear. We are called to live in power, love, and a sound mind.
That does not mean we ignore science and protective measures. It is important we all make wise and informed decisions, and that the choices we make reflect our compassion and respect for the lives of those around us.
But as a community and as a country, I encourage us to take captive the thoughts drenched in worry, anxiety, and hysteria and replace them with hope, compassion, and logic.
When this season ends, we want to be able to look back at our actions and to be proud of the choices and attitudes we lived out.
Did we contribute to solutions and support each other with courage and compassion. Or did we respond in fear and further spread that fear to others?
Because fear is also contagious, and unlike COVID-19 we are all equally susceptible and at-risk to it’s harm and destruction.
If we are going to spread something may it be based in love, hope, peace, and courage.
It is a choice, but it is one of the most important choices we can ever make.
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