Discourse on Fear

Disclaimer: it's late and 3 hours ago I was drunkenly delirious with sleep and sugar. (Somehow, it was from both the excess and absence of those.) So if my thoughts aren't presented in as organized a manner as you would like to see from me, I do apologize.

Many months ago, some wonderful sister missionaries visited with me and shared with me a message that had been shared with them on fear. (By their mission president, I want to say. Not entirely sure.)

A beautiful yellow post-it remains in my Bible with the formula for overcoming any fear.

Faith
lovE
Act
prayeR

Of course I was given scriptural references with this message. (More than I am about to share.)
And I think that 1 John 4:18 sums it up pretty well..
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."
The latter half of Moroni 8:16 provides another perspective.
"I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear." (emphasis added)

One of my hobbies is understanding intangibles. Tonight, this morning, right this very blog post, I'd like to take a deeper look at understanding fear.

One of the scriptures given me was 2 Timothy 1: 7
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." We have those things, whether or not we choose to use them. And if God didn't give us the spirit of fear, who has?

Because I'm a Mormon English major, I like dictionaries. One of my favorites being the Bible Dictionary. In the entry on Fear, it states:
"Ever since the Fall God has been teaching men not to fear."

I understand where fear comes from. I understand what drives fear. Most often, it's doubt and insecurity. I understand how scary it is to face your fears. Believe it or not, I know what it's like to stare down your own inadequacies. From that understanding, it's clear what the opposite of fear is: faith.

What I don't understand is why people don't face their fears. I have had more than one friend admit their deepest, darkest, keenest fears to me. (And it wouldn't surprise me if a stranger has done the same and I just haven't realized it.) I cannot fathom being afraid to face your fears. The fears are yours--they belong to you, making you the dictator of your own fears.

Maybe I look at things to simply (as a reaction to my often extraordinarily complicated life). However, as I've matured, I've looked at some of my fears and told myself to just get over it. And you know what? It's worked! My knees may have felt like rice pudding, but I faced each new fear head on, moving forward with faith that the fear-foe would be vanquished.

I believe that Christ will be there with us as we face our fears. At least, He's been with me every time I've asked Him to be as I face mine one at a time. But each fear we leave unfaced is one less opportunity we have to accept the help of our very best friend. With some fears, He is the only one who can fight with us. And it usually those fears that we cannot face on our own.