Fear

Psalm 27:1

"The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?"

This morning, in my daily Bible reading, I came across this verse. I am certainly familiar with it, as I have heard it many times throughout Sunday School and church as a child. However, the significance of the verse has changed over the years. When I was younger, I used it to overcome my fear of the dark (every child has this fear, right?). During tornado sirens, I was paranoid of my house getting blown away, though there were slim chances of this occurring. I even used to be afraid of dogs (as strange as it sounds) because I took observation of those minority "mean dogs" which terrorized me by their bark alone. My dreams were always wild and imaginative, but scary nonetheless. Whether it was a fictional "monster" chasing me throughout my house, or a pack of wolves ready to pounce at any second and devour me, I always woke up scared to walk in my own house! I usually raced to my parent's bedroom, sharing my nightmares and persuading them to let me sleep in their bed.

In one particular dream, dinosaurs were conquering the world and my entire family (grandparents included) were gobbled up by the "colorful" beasts. They tore down the roof of my house and were coming for me at last. In a desperate attempt to save my life, I shut the closet door and closed my eyes. Slowly, slowly, I drifted away from my dream to wake up in my comforting bedroom, free from the dominating dinosaurs. Oddly enough, I can see the picture clear in my mind, of all of my childhood nightmares and dreams. Years later, I discovered why I had the dinosaur dream. My brother had this comforter in his bedroom with an array of multicolored dinosaurs scattered throughout. These were the same dinosaurs in my dream and they had simply "come to life." It is funny how the mind works.

Another night, I dreamed there were sharks in my swimming pool! I used to be on the swim team and was one of the fastest swimmers there, however, my speed was not fast enough for the hungry swarm of sharks which attempted to eat me alive. For months, I was afraid to swim in the pool for fear of sharks. What a silly fear, now that I am older. My parents tried to encourage me, claiming sharks cannot survive in the chlorinated pool anyway. As stubborn as I was, I did not believe them. If they were in my dream, they must be able to overcome that obstacle.

As you can see, I had the most ridiculous fears as a child, which seem nearly impossible to be scared of, now older and more mature. What are the fears of a teenager, or perhaps the average adult? My mother told me she heard on television that the number one fear in America is public speaking, the second, believe it or not, is death! This seems absolutely ridiculous to me, since I love to give speeches and am not scared of death in the least bit. What am I scared of? Possibly the fear of not standing up for my faith enough or not witnessing to my friends. The thing that scares me the most is seeing a family member without Christ-lost, confused, and doomed to eternity separated from God. These are the grand scale fears, but I am not unlike most teenagers in other fears.

Have you ever lost a friend? Have you ever struggled with having no friends? From toddlers to the elderly, I think everyone has experienced this tragedy at least once. In sixth grade, I had one friend. After trying to share my faith with her, I was zero for zero. Friendless, and lonely. Sure, I still have my best friend, Jesus, but people still need to be with other people. We need each other. It's our human instinct to love others, like God loves us. Eventually, I gained other friends throughout middle school and even more in high school. God is always looking out for me and sent friends in the most unlikely places.

Have you ever been afraid to try something new? I know I am always hesitant to step out of my comfort zone and be outgoing. Despite my bubbly personality, I have a shy side to me. It's hard to be talkative when you don't know anyone. It's like being the new girl at school or moving to a completely new town. Sometimes you just have to be brave. And that courage comes from one person. Joshua 1:9 says, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Whatever your fear, God can remove anything holding you back from living life to the fullest. He cares about us more than we can ever conceive. God will give us the courage we need to conquer fear. "Whom shall I fear?"

-Light and Salvation picture found on Google.
-Colorful Dinosaur picture found on Google.