Fear can be completely irrational. It doesn't respond to logic. My child can't explain why she runs away from a cockroach or a rat, she just does. I only know I have a thing about looking down from tall buildings, - i get this quesy feeling in the stomach and a tingling in my toes. (so I will never understand how anyone would want to go bungee-jumping.) People fear all sorts of things, dead or alive. We fear other people, we fear events that haven't happened or may happen. There are all sorts of reasons for fears - becoz we don't want 'something bad' to happen to us; so we fear hurt, pain, suffering, loss, damage. Becoz we don't understand or we don't know whats going to happen, so we fear death or growing old.We even fear 'good' things like change, becoz we can't or dont want to get out of the comfortable familiar rut of the old. I guess in the journey of life, we run thru a whole gamut of fears from the ludicrous which makes us laugh to the deeply unsettling and upsetting ones that tear us apart.
I have had my share of fears. As a kid, I was scared of worms, ya, the creepy crawly kind. To get out of science experiment that required us to touch/dissect earthworms, I passed over the job to my classmate. When I went fishing with my husband, I left him to hook up the squirmy cacing. Until one fine day I decided no self-respecting fisherman/woman should be afraid of a leeetle worm, so I finally screwed up enuf courage, grit my teeth and got my hands on a live cacing. I no longer fear worms, but I still don't like them (and I have long since stopped fishing). At the ripe old age of 40, I confronted worse fears than wriggly worms - losing a cushy job and worse, losing a much loved spouse on whom i depended for the most simple affairs like balancing a cheque book and making a good teh tarik. (I have since learnt to balance my own accounts, but I still haven't got the knack of making a good cuppa at home). At Bersih 2 and 3, I have faced the fear of tear gas and possible arrest - I have had to literally run for my life. And like every parent, I have feared for my kids whenever they go out (which is like everyday). I 'worry' (another word for fear, only supposed to be less intense) that they will get drunk, get high or get into accidents.
Significantly in the Bible, apparently God tells us 365 times (in one form or another) not to fear. That's once a day for all of a year. In some passages He repeats it more than once in the same paragraph. I guess we humans must be a pretty fearful lot, that He has to issue daily reminders to us. The Bible is replete with incidents of how God helped people overcome awesome fears, saving them from chariots, horses, storms, lions, fiery furnaces, demons, devil and even death. It heartens me to know that there is such a powerful God at work who is ready at the breath of a prayer to come to aid those who call upon His name. Of coz that doesn't mean we leave everything to God. Praying comes along with doing. God's given us common sense to take care of ourselves, so we have a responsibility to be cautious in our coming and goings. Like they say Trust in God but lock your car. Still it gives me such a tremendous assurance to know that I have a God who stations angels to encamp around me, to protect and shield me from harm and evil. It doesn't mean bad things won't happen to me, but I can be certain the hand of Almighty God is upon me, so that I no longer fear the things that I have absolutely no control over. That kind of security beats any hi-tech alarm system or self-defence technique flat anytime.
Indeed God even tells us what or rather who it is we should really fear, and it's actually nothing of what we commonly fear at all. Reputedly the wisest king on earth , Solomon declared in his proverbs, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding....The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death" (Prov 9:10, 14:27) . Jesus told people, "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him."(Luke 12:4-5) Jesus talks about a totally different dimension of fear; not the physical 'here and now' but the spiritual 'after'wards. For the 'here and now' fears of everyday living, God already tells us Do not fear. The fact that He issues 365 reminders tells us we still haven't 'got it' and that we are still distracted by them. Yet these are not THE important stuff.... the real important stuff is to fear God Himself.
But I am learning... this fear is unlike the 'normal' fears that consume us, scare us and make us afraid of this, that or the other. I am not frightened of God, but I fear, respect and honor Him out of love as my Creator, the Shepherd of my soul, recognizing Him as all that is good,powerful and loving, and obeying Him willingly as the sole authority of my life. This is a fear that liberates, contrary to a fear that imprisons. Now that's a fear I can live with....
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. Ecclesisastes 12:13
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