Click here to listen to this audio clip: Get To The Root Of What You Fear (mp3)
Were you ever in bed in the dark and afraid there was something unwelcome or frightening in the room or the house with you? How did you handle that? Did you throw the covers over your head and hope it would go away? Or did you get up and turn on the light so you could dismiss what was most likely a fabrication of your mind or emotions?
When I was a small child, I covered myself with the covers. When I became a teenager, I decided I wasn’t going to be tormented by something that probably didn’t even exist – so I would get up and flip the light on. A little maturity had taught me that most of the things I feared didn’t even exist, but that I could work myself into a frenzy over these things any way, so I should DEAL WITH IT so I could get back to sleep.
I must admit, as a grown up, I have felt evil presences in the dark. However, I learned to take the authority I have in Jesus’ name and rebuke whatever it was (well, WHEN I REMEMBERED to do it!). I just refused to be terrorized when I could actually DO something about the terror.
Well, I am here to tell you that you CAN do something about the anxiety and terror you sometimes experience! You have to FACE whatever it is, and not bury it (or yourself) under the covers of sleep or busy-ness or ministry or relationships. You have to GET TO THE ROOT of whatever you fear and DEAL WITH IT AS A LOGICAL ADULT.
The problem is FIGURING OUT what the heck you are afraid of. Many times we say we are afraid of this or that (loss of finances, material things or relationships), but that is not accurate. The loss of a relationship may actually reveal our fear of being alone, or unloved. The loss of our finances may actually be a front for the fear of losing your possessions (or, like me, the fear of losing my home).
Now, I realize that some of you are at the point in your depression and anxiety that logical thinking can be a struggle (been there, done that, have the scars to prove it…), so you may need someone else to be your sounding board and help you get to the bottom line of what you fear. You’ve got to find out what is REALLY terrorizing you beneath the panic and surface issues so that you can deal with THAT. You can’t MAKE your other fears go away until you uncover their root.
I had to play through the scenario that I had lost my home in order to disarm that fear. We would not be out on the street. We would probably have to live with family or friends. It may be uncomfortable, sad and discouraging, but it would NOT be the end of the world.
And THAT’S what you have to come to realize: Whatever you are afraid of, even if it came true, it would NOT be the end of the world. Life would still go on (as long as death is not your fear), and you would learn to cope and make the best of the life you were living.
What is is that you are REALLY afraid of? Who can you trust to talk it out and help you discover it? Are you going to remain shivering with fear under the covers, or are you going to throw the covers back, flip on the lights and look in that closet, or under the bed? You don’t have to live in terror any more!
Penny Haynes