Fear Factor

A Gallup Poll conducted in 2005 reveals the most common fears of teenagers in the United States. The top 10 list goes like this: Terrorist attacks, Spiders, Death, Failure, War, Heights, Crime/Violence, Being alone, The future, and Nuclear war. Other common fears include public speaking, going to the dentist, pain, cancer and snakes.

Most of the items listed above have to do with lack of control; however, the word failure brings to mind the fear of not being good enough – not meeting others expectations or our own expectations.

The Message (MSG) Isaiah 8:11-15 “God spoke strongly to me, grabbed me with both hands and warned me not to go along with this people. He said: ‘Don't be like this people, always afraid somebody is plotting against them. Don't fear what they fear. Don't take on their worries. If you're going to worry, worry about The Holy, Fear God-of-the-Angel-Armies. The Holy can be either a Hiding Place or a Boulder blocking your way, The Rock standing in the willful way of both houses of Israel, A barbed-wire Fence preventing trespass to the citizens of Jerusalem. Many of them are going to run into that Rock and get their bones broken, Get tangled up in that barbed wire and not get free of it.’"

If one chooses to define failure as the inability to meet the expectations other people, fear of failure is guaranteed to be a constant worry – a worry that is characteristic of the most everyone. If instead my fear, worry and awe are focused on God, He becomes a place of safety in the turmoil of life. The writer of Ecclesiastes indicated that he had tried about everything there was to try in this life and his conclusion as to what was the essence of life could be summed up as follows: Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV) “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

If fear of failure is based upon meeting personal expectations, one can put himself in the position of looking back in time, regretting the poor choices made and blaming others for plotting against him. Another peril of personal expectation is to define goals in life that may seem to be great achievement, work diligently to achieve the goals, and fall just short of what was defined as “success.”

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians indicates that knowing Christ personally as Master is the true definition of success in this life. We will never totally achieve in this life, but we can be assured that the one who perfects our faith is here for us.

Philippians (3: 7-16 The Message) “The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.
So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.”

The cure for fear is a well-formed, totally committed love of God.

1 John 4:17-18 (The Message)
“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.”

Lord, help us to love as You love us.