In the Grip of Fear

As long as there is breath in our bodies, each of us has a vulnerability to fear that doesn’t ever completely disappear.  We must face it to defeat it.  To conquer fear, we must understand the many different ways it disguises itself in its efforts to steer us away from overcoming faith.  Faith overcomes fear through courage, and courage is strengthened through exposure of fear’s masks.  I commend the reader’s courage to read on.    

Fear lurks in concerns, uncertainty, doubt, precariousness, instability, insecurity, imbalance, unpredictability, undependability, unreliability, unfairness, disorder, disarray, distress, and confusion to name some of the hiding places.  At this writing, almost 3 months into a global Wuhan China virus pandemic, the meaning of “uncertain future” has been taken to a new level for most of us.   

There is a good kind of fear that can serve as a warning for danger.  An example may be hearing a rattle while walking in the woods.  The warning of rattles on a rattle snake can help steer a person  clear of being harmed by the poison of a snake’s bite.  But fear can turn into its own kind of poison if concern is unwarranted, too much change comes our direction in a short period of time, or a crisis threatens our safety and security.  Fear is sometimes a natural response in wrestling with life’s realities.  However, if much time passes without a return to some sort of “normal,” a toxic form of stress weighs a person into anxiety or other unpleasant emotional conditions.  

When I post articles in sequence, I usually post the most recent building on the previous article.  In this case it is backwards.  The previous article called A PILL for the Virus targets how to overcome fear.  But I think I mistakenly assumed people recognize fear and want to get rid of it.  Sometimes it’s hard to see fear’s affects in our lives, and sometimes we don’t think it’s bad enough to hold us in it’s grip.  We must first train ourselves to identity fear before we can deal with it effectively.  Fear is a nasty virus.  The first step for a person to loosen its grip is to recognize what it looks like in daily life.  Asking ourselves some hard questions may be the best way to identify some roots of fear.

Are we thriving?  God created human beings to thrive, not just survive.  Have we merely adapted to a “new normal,” by creating new bad habits?  Or, are we holding firmly to values of faith, family, and friendship no matter what circumstances present us?  Whatever we do that is not done with intentional faith, is subject to a fear motivation.   

Are we believing lies?  God is the source of absolute truth.  Truth dispels fear, but fear is always attached to a lie.  In the case of this current pandemic, has the truth come out about the true origins, nature of spreading, accuracy of testing, methods of transmission, types of treatment, legitimacy of reporting, etc.?  Are we believing inaccurate science, untrustworthy government officials, propagandist so-called news reporting, opportunist financial analysts, ignorant celebrities, or simply anyone who thinks the way we think already?  

Are we over-reacting?  Everything that happens is within the sight,and timing, of God.  There is also nothing “bad” that happens, that he can’t turn into good (Romans 8:28).  If we are a follower of Christ, the very worst thing that could happen to us is that we die and go to heaven.  My readers may have a different opinion, but I don’t consider that a bad deal!  Although fear of death is real for some, the numbers of deaths in the current virus pandemic are smaller in magnitude to other similar pandemics in past times.  For persons with a healthy immune system, the chances of death are almost nothing.  In addition, because of the negative attention given to health care facilities, people with non-virus related conditions are not seeking proper medical help (or being refused in some cases), and dying from conditions they would have otherwise been successfully treated for (eg. heart attacks, strokes, mental health concerns).  Overreacting with fear of exposure to a “potential” virus is causing deaths.   Not to mention the economy and how businesses have needlessly been destroyed because of overreactions to the threat of spreading a virus.  

At this point let me say that I am not advocating removal of legitimate precautions especially for at risk groups like healthcare workers and first responders.    But in my opinion fear reactions by the general public have made conditions far worse than they need to be.  The term “self government” is not familiar to as many people these days, but it holds the key to America’s survival as a nation.  People cannot be forced to act responsibly and in good character.  Virtuous living cannot be legislated into existence.  One of our founding fathers Benjamin Franklin, in 1787 when asked what kind of government was created, answered, “A Republic ….  if you can keep it.”  The virtue practiced (or not practiced)  by individuals, makes or breaks the United States of America.  This is explained well in a book by Eric MeTaxas called “If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.”   Fear is one of the greatest enemies of the principles and practice of the liberties we enjoy as Americans.  

Are we motivated by fear of loss?  God, our creator, created us to be creative.  Each person has a God-given purpose and meaning in life.  Our greatest satisfaction is felt when we are most in alignment with expressions of this purpose.  We are naturally motivated to try to make the most of any opportunity to advance this purpose.  The loss of missed opportunities are something we want to avoid, so we sometimes settle for the good instead of the best.  We go for the counterfeit and forfeit the real thing.  We grab the temporary, and lose sight of the lasting satisfaction.  Anything we are addicted to (feel like we can’t live without) fits in this category (eg. drugs, porn, busyness, nonmarital intimate relationship, phone, other technology).  Fear is the motivator behind the thinking that, “If I don’t have this _______ (fill in blank with person, activity, or thing), then I’ll be missing out on life.”    

TV advertisers have exploited our fear of loss for years with “Buy this product or service so you don’t miss out.”  Authoritarian style leaders promise, “Give us your acceptance of this inconvenience or restriction, and we’ll provide you with safety.”  Fear of loss of security is what motivates people to give up their God-given rights and freedoms.   

In recent months the assault of fear has shown itself in many other ways too numerous to mention here.  Fear has made everyone suffer (needlessly) for the misdeeds of a few.  Fear has people dwelling on the negative (pessimism), and not seeing the positive (optimism).  Fear has people drawing away from each other (physical presence) at a time (in crisis) when human connection is needed most (for endurance to persevere to make it through).  Especially those being stricken with the Covid-19 virus,  isolating them completely from their families is extremely short-sighted.  Fear creates and aggravates deeper mental health problems.  

Fear is creating havoc in our community, but its roots grow in each individual’s heart.  I pose some additional questions here for each person to ask.  

How/ where is fear operating in my life?

How/ where has fear become a negative influence in my thinking and actions in a crisis?

In what ways am I thinking differently (than pre-crisis)?  

From whom or where did I get information that made me think this way?  

How have my beliefs changed?  

What am I saying differently?  

From whom or where did I/ we acquire the new phrases I/ we am/ are hearing and repeating?

(eg. “flattening the curve,” “social distancing,” “new normal,” “public safety,” “essential services,” “non-essential workers”)

What things am I doing differently?

From whom or where did I pick up these actions and behaviors?  

What important values or aspirations have I given up on (as a result of all this)?

Have I/ we been suckered into accepting a dumbed-down existence for no real reason?

   How did I/ we let it happen?  

What could have I/ we done differently, and how do I/ we now make adjustments/ amends?

Am I/ Are we willing to refrain from complaining, justifying, and blaming

(and take responsibility for our contribution)?  

What have I/ we lost? What has been stolen/ destroyed?    

   How does that make me feel?   

   How have these thoughts and feelings turned into decisions, opinions, and condemning judgments?   

   Am I holding bitterness, resentment, or blame that I need to relinquish?

Am I/ Are we still is so much denial that these questions don’t make sense enough to stir thinking?     

If it seems like I may have more questions than answers, I guess that’s true.  Hopefully these question can spur some rational thinking.  Fear traffickers do not want people thinking for themselves.  Irrational fear has destructive results.  Fear-focused people are doomed to destructive outcomes.  Rational thinking focuses on solutions, not the problem.  Perhaps now the reader is better prepared to read my previous article for a P-I-L-L (solution) for this virus of fear.  (See article at: http://authoredhersh.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-pill-for-virus.html ,  OR see video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Px1tt5rjdM )

My hope for each reader is to escape the grip of fear as much as possible. This is our only hope for keeping the liberties we value as Americans.  

by Ed Hersh, BnB Healing Ministry

A PILL for the Virus

In times of great uncertainty we are prone to doubt, worry, and anxious thoughts in larger quantities and with greater intensity than our “normal” is comfortable with.  Most of us are having that “normal” greatly stretched with the recent events of a world-wide virus pandemic.  Although fear may be a helpful reaction when faced with potential physical harm, fear can become a dangerous virus of its own taking the form of chronic unsettledness, discontent, and confusion.   I would like to prescribe the following P-I-L-L for reducing fear and anxiety.  

P- Pursue God.  

The first dose of any solution to our human problems is to cry out to God.  Dating back to ancient times, we have history showing us how God has been faithful to the human race he created.  Most of the Psalms were written about 3 thousand years ago, but are incredibly relevant to today.  Psalms have been read, spoken aloud, silently meditated on, sung, memorized, dramatized, and fully engaged in other ways by generations of people before us.  The authors faced real-life circumstances causing them to seek God, pursue God, find God, and put their trust in God for their Refuge and Salvation.  Besides relating to God through the Bible, calling out to him in prayer (both as an individual and in the company of other people) is an  essential first step to combat fear.

I- Influence Restriction.  

A second dose is to cautiously limit the negative influence of fear mongers.  Fear of loss is a powerful motivator of human behavior, and there are forces in our world using this trait to manipulate for evil purposes.  For example, the traditional news media is a powerful influencer of public opinion, and have been often hijacked to promote false narratives and fear-based propaganda.  Years ago, I personally quit watching TV network so-called news for that reason.  For a while I naively thought I could watch it, sort out fact from fiction for myself, and not have the fear-based influences affect me.  I discovered a person’s best conscious efforts cannot completely overcome an emotionally manipulative message to create fear.   Especially in times when great energy is needed to reduce toxic stress, it’s not worth the risk.  Consider your circumstances to discover other negative influences to restrict (ie. so-called social media, gossip, conversations with people who condemn others).  Avoid speculators, and limit information intake to the facts.  

L- Love as defined by God.  

Jesus summarized the ten commandments into two, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and most important command.  The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39; CSB).  When our identity is rooted in God, we can know who we really are, and we can be released to love others in the way we are loved by God.  Loving others gives us our deepest meaning and purpose in life.  Besides distracting us from our own fears, looking out for the needs and interests of others helps lower others’ fears.  Love is a catalyst for good in the face of evil.  

L- Live in Faith.  

Faith is the ultimate cure for fear.  God is the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2).   As “author,” is the source and provider of faith.  As “perfecter,” God is the protector and multiplier of faith.  In order for faith to be alive it must be growing continuously.  For growth to take place, there must be a transformation of old to new and smaller to larger.   With a garden vegetable plant for example, a seed must be placed in the ground.  Then the seed becomes a sprout.  Then the sprout makes an appearance as a short stub of a plant.  A few days or weeks later, it may be a few inches high.  Then more time passes and it becomes a foot or more taller or sprawling as a vine.  Then fruit first appears as a bud, and then growth of the fruit occurs.  Good growth (“perfecting”) depends on good conditions (“authoring”) of soil, water, and temperature.   So it is with our faith in the hands of Almighty God.  The faith in our heart grows through a transformation and progressive sanctification, lifelong process.   A life of faith in God, is a life committed to inside-out change as a life time adventure.  

Fear is the greatest enemy of faith.  While faith has its source in a good God, fear has its source in an evil adversary (the devil).  Going all the way back to the creation of mankind, unbelief,  doubt , and confusion were used by our chief enemy to lure us away from God’s love.  As long as we live in this broken world, we will not be totally free of the potential harassment of fear, but through Jesus (who defeated all our enemies once for all), God’s love is fully accessible (simply by believing, John 3:16).  

We must face our fears with faith.  This is called courage.  With courage, we can choose belief over unbelief, confidence (in God) over doubt, and clarity (of identity and purpose in God) over confusion.  The temptation to fear may not be eradicated, but the courage to respond with faith can grow stronger.  Struggles, trials, and tests develop our perseverance (see James 1:2-4).  As we grow stronger we develop our capacity for larger struggles and trials.  As we witness the global scene become more tumultuous, the possibilities wrought by increasing our resilience (body, mind, soul, and spirit), through faith, should give us hope for facing the future.   (See more on the topic of Emotional Capacity in an earlier article at: http://authoredhersh.blogspot.com/2017/10/emotional-capacity-part-2.html ).

Although there is no actual P-I-L-L for the virus called fear, it can be conquering through pursuing God, restricting bad influences, loving (God, self, and others), and living in transformational faith.  We can declare with confidence, “virus be gone” by swallowing this pill.  

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry

Sowing to Thorns

My previous article focused on a parable Jesus taught in Matthew 13 about a farmer sowing seeds in expectation of harvest.  According to Jesus this is one of his most important teachings.  In explaining more details to his closest followers he reveals it as a foundation for all other teaching.  “Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13).  To understand the kingdom of God (God’s rule and authority) and to follow Jesus more closely, it is imperative to practice the foundational truth of what Jesus is saying in this parable.   Since I’m not quoting the entire parable here, please read Mark 4:1-20 for a better understanding of what follows.

As we saw previously, God is likened to a Farmer sowing seeds.  There are four types of soil (human hearts) mentioned in the story.  Type 4 is the soil that produces a crop at harvest time (good fruit / behavior as the Bible calls it). The other 3 types are hard, rocky, and thorny.  In this article I will focus on the third type.  In a society with many Christian churches and activities, the “thorny” soil is the place many people get stuck.  Unfortunately, I think it describes much of what we see in the Church in America today.  The good news is that God’s power can change this if we allow him to do so.  The article also looked at the ongoing aspects of change that must occur in our hearts as Jesus followers.  Allowing God to change us from the inside out is what the Christian life is all about.  

Mark 4 is another place in the Bible this teaching is recorded from a slightly different perspective from Matthew 13.  The thorny soil is described this way, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;  but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19).  Three charactieristics define type 3 soil: worry, deceit, and misplaced desires.   The three main  thngs that  keep God’s Word from changing our heart are fear, ungodly beliefs, and ungodly desires.  

First, let’s look at the “worries of this life” (fear).  It seems like fear has a tighter grip on peoples’ lives than ever before.  Fear-motivated reactions are the polar opposite of love.  God is love, and he created people in the original design to demonstrate his love to all people, in all circumstances, and for all times.  With the entry of sin came changes to the perfect world God created.  We now have a need to concern ourselves (at least to some degree) with survival and self-preservation.  Father God is our provider, protector, and identity, but we have a role to make this real in our lives.  It is very easy to get  God’s part and our part out of balance.  Fear shows up in thinking about whether we have enough to live life fully (eg. enough good looks, competence, skill, strength, or maybe even enough food or clothes)   Fear shows up in things like trying to grab too much control over people or situations (ei. not trusting God to be our ultimate protector) .  Fear may show up in thinking too much of ourselves (eg. not respecting others legitimate rights,  wishes, or property).  Thinking too little of oneself is also a form of fear (eg. not worthy, valuable, capable of love, misfit, alone(.  

Fear responses create thorns that choke out seeds of truth sown in our hearts.  

Second, is the “deceitfulness of wealth” (ungodly beliefs).  I think the wealth spoken of here applies much more widely than material or financial resources.  It may include abundance (wealth) of trust in knowledge, reason, beliefs, human capacity, self-reliance, self-sufficiency and the like.  When a person thinks they are fine without God, they have no “hunger” for God.  Our physical body can become content with junk food, even though it is unhealthy and steals our vitality.  In a similar way, our soul can become content with counterfeit beliefs.  What we think about God and how we know him should be shaped mainly by the Bible, and not the latest sermon series, video, s’ocial media post, or self-help tool.   When we rely on our own  “wealth” of knowledge,  wisdom, or ability to figure things out, we run the high risk of choking out the obvious truth that is right in front of us.  Our reliance for soul transformation must be in God, and God alone.  

Third is the “desires for other things” (ungodly desires).  Whereas ungodly(misplaced) beliefs stem from over dependence on the power of human reasoning, ungodly (misplaced) desires stem from over dependence on human passion.  God is holy.  He is so much unlike anything else this world has to offer.  An accurate and healthy concept of God is essential for living a healthy and godly life.  Knowing God as a personal God is far removed, and more important than knowing  about God as a concept.  To know him is a wonderful thing.  And to really know that we are known by him, only comes through desire for knowing him.  A heart that longs for him is a satisfied heart.  See Psalm 63  for King David’s  beautiful expression of this truth.  Seeking satisfaction  from things in our natural world leaves us dry and thirsty.  Deep desire for God’s supernatural (beyond natural) love gives us everlasting joy built into our original design.  A satisfied human heart knows God’s desires, and seeks to satisfy God’s desires above their own.  Choosing to elevate God’s desires above self, is the key to finding the true self  God uniquely created us to be.

Human beings are designed to make choices regarding their beliefs and desires.  Reason alone does not reveal God for who He truly is.  Passion alone does not bring us into fellowship with the God of Truth.  We must worship God with both reason and passion, mind and heart, truth and spirit (see John 4:23).  Discovering truth and desiring to please God by putting it into practice is the best way to chase away the fears that keep us from loving as God intends.  We must become less content with what the world has in mind for us, and more content with what God has in mind.  To do this we must become less aware of worldly comforts and more aware of godly comforts.  

Desiring more of God may require us to pay more serious attention to where we place our energy, time, and talents.  Never before in history does there seem to be so many distractions and potential false comforts, false beliefs, and seemingly urgent nonessentials.  Yet with more “thorns” than ever trying to influence our heart (soil), it becomes more important to press into God’s simple truth.  The older I get, the more I realize I must pay attention to what I am paying attention to, and limit my exposure to things that may turn to thorns.  

I don’t want to get too specific so as not to appear legalistic, but I will say that much of what is called “entertainment” today looks like a thorn patch to me.  Even the TV network news media amounts to a thorn patch because of the fear-based slant on news.  Things that fall in the category of addiction would be putting “desires for other things” ahead of God.  Basically anything that would cause us to struggle if we believe God was telling us to give it up, is a potential thorn.  Always remember that anything we view as difficult to give up, has the potential of rewarding us with treasures of far greater value than we were able to discern before giving it up.  We don’t know what we don’t know.  Sometimes we don’t know how deeply something is influencing us in a negative direction until we replace it with an intentional more positive substitute.  Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament has some very good advice for us, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:8-9).

My prayer is that we heed the warnings Jesus is teaching us through this story about the Farmer (God) sowing seeds (truth) that finds its way into furtile (productive) soil (our hearts.  May our hearts be turned to God to elieviate our fears, reshape our beliefs, and renew our desires for God.  To get back on track (or to stay on track), we may do well to ask ourselves some questions about the status of our contentments.  What is the true condition of my heart (soil)?  Have I become content with a thorn that’s choking out the Truth?  Where have I made friends with fear, rather than choosing to cast it aside?  Where might my beliefs need some adjustment to guard against deception?  How could the flames of my passion for God be fanned into a higher (hotter) degree?  Am I discontent with my current level of fellowship with God, so I am freed (from this world’s passions)  to desire Him more?  What experiences might I like too much, so that they keep me from heavenly treasures?  

Weeds and thorns in our heart are part of life as long as we’re living on this earth.  What makes the difference (for becoming good soil) is our choice to cooperate with God by accepting the salvation he freely gave us through his only Son Jesus.  Our hope is in Christ on a daily basis for inner life (soil) cleansing.  May we choose life, and choose to value the seed God has sown to give us eternal life.   

by Ed Hersh, Blue Rock BnB Healing Ministry