Dealing with Fear

As a person who paid extra for a heavily wooded lot about twenty-one years ago, and now frets every time we have a windstorm, when I look at this photo, I just think “No.”

I’m sure there are plenty of words you can use to describe the view from the back of this home. Amazing, beautiful, majestic, expansive all come to mind. But those descriptions came way after “breathtaking.” I don’t mean breathtaking as in “Wow, come look at the view. It’s breathtaking.” I mean “I think I’ll go back inside so I can breathe again.”

Both of these situations make me wonder, “Are there times we should be afraid?”

Maybe there are. When we put ourselves in risky situations, we often experience fear. I think that’s okay (this coming from a person you’ll find in an interior room during really bad storms). What we don’t want to happen is for that fear to rule our lives.

For instance, if you are someone who is afraid of heights, being next to huge expanses, and have a house on what appears to be erodible characteristics, you may not be the right person to live in the house in this week’s photo. However, they may have taken steps to ensure the safety of their house, I don’t know. They may also have a higher risk tolerance than me.

If you are always afraid of huge trees falling on your house, you may not want to live on a heavily wooded lot. Now, what I did to minimize my risk is have an arborist come out and assess all the large trees surrounding my house. They removed trees, pruned trees, and treated trees. This doesn’t mean there is no risk, but now, the risk is tolerable for me.

Dealing with Fear #hope #joy #writingcommunity Click To Tweet

There may be times when we experience fear. We need to address that fear through the means God gives us.

Look at what David says in Psalm 56.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” (Psalm 56:3, NIV)

Someone with a house on a hillside may put their faith in special foundation treatments. While living on a wooded lot, I put my faith in an arborist and actions they took on my trees.

In life, when we are afraid, we should put our trust in God.

It makes perfect sense to place our faith in God. God created us. He knows every single thing about us. He is eternal, knowing all history and all future. He is more powerful than anything. And in addition to all that, God tells us to put our faith in Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)