Fear Factor: Christmas Edition
What do these three things have in common?
These are all things that I have been afraid of. So where do these fears come from? Looking at research on the topic it seems to be a combination of both genetics and experience, with perhaps some more weight placed on experience. There are many different types of fear, in fact there are whole websites dedicated to listing different types of fears (www.fearof.net; www.phobialist.com) just to name a couple.
I can’t really tell you where my fears of snakes or being suspended from heights came from. They might come from my genetics although no one in my family seems to be afraid of the same things. I could maybe relate my fear of failure to my career choices. As I look through my medical, legal, and business training, failure is not exactly rewarded. In fact, as an emergency medicine doctor, if I fail someone might die. So I guess that that may have something to do with my fear of failure. Regardless of what the reasons for my fears, it doesn’t look like I am alone. Ophidophobia (fear of snakes), acrophobia (fear of heights), and atychiphobia (fear of failure), are among the top 15 phobias in the world.
While the cause of the fear might not be known, it is more the effect of the fear on your life that can have a significant impact on the choices that you make. Some fears like turophobia (fear of cheese [this would be awful!]), or syndetiraphobia (fear of paperclips), may not have such a profound impact. But, fears like anthropophobia (fear of people) or cibophobia (fear of food) would likely have a profound impact on your life.
I have found that life experiences and struggles might enhance your fears. On a recent trip to Park City Utah I went to visit the Olympic Park. I had intended to go on this downhill on an inner tube and I got on the ski lift to go up the hill. I have skied before and been on several ski lifts before and never had a problem, but all of the sudden I had this sense of fear as I rode up the hill. As a result, I never did make it down the mountain on the inner tube. In times of struggle and hardship it is very easy to begin question even the simplest choices like McDonalds or Burger King, the red sweater or the blue sweater. None of these things is necessarily going to have a large impact on your life but because of the stressors you’ve faced you begin to “fear” the decision you are going to make as a worse choice.
The Bible speaks a lot about fear. In fact, the most repeated command in the Bible is some form of “Do not be afraid.” This phrase alone is repeated more than 70 times not including its several variations like “fear not” or “have no fear.” So why is fear so pervasive?
Defining Moments
After my last post I continued to study the passages of scripture I shared because I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more there that I needed to write about. In the post, I talked about being in the “middle seat” and what it meant. As I continued to study the three biblical examples that I gave about being in the “middle seat,” one thing stood out to me. Surrounding each of these three situations there was an element of fear.
In the story of Abraham, who would become the father of many nations, God speaks to him and says: “Do not be afraid Abram, I am your shield, your very great reward.” (Genesis 15:1). In the story of Moses who would deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians, Moses, “hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3:6) Later on along the same journey, as Moses is headed into battle, God has to remind Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, with his whole army and his land. (Numbers 21:34) And even though command of “Do not be afraid” was never expressed to Joseph, I have to imagine that while he was sitting in jail for a crime he didn’t commit and he was initially forgotten by the cupbearer who was supposed to put in a good word for him, there had to be a sense of fear that he might never see the outside of the prison walls.
Each of these men was faced with fear in the face of life changing, history changing moments. Throughout the Bible we can find other examples of how fear precedes a turning point. The bottom line is:
FEAR OFTEN PRECEDES DEFINING MOMENTS
The Christmas Story
Understanding that fear often precedes defining moments, it is not a wonder that one of the biggest “defining moments” in history, the birth of Jesus, was surrounded with fear and the reminder, “do not be afraid.”
Starting even before the time that Jesus birth was foretold, the element of fear was already present. Zechariah and Elizabeth (Mary’s cousin), were advanced in age and had no children because Elizabeth was barren. One day an angel appeared to Zechariah and said:
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to give him the name John.” (Luke 1:13)
This John was John the Baptist who would, “Go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)
As the angel of the Lord appeared to Mary to begin what would be the foretelling of Jesus’ birth, Mary was, “greatly troubled at his words, and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’” (Luke 1:29-31)
When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant despite not having had a sexual relationship with her, he made plans to divorce her quietly in order to not subject her to public disgrace. But yet again an angel of the Lord appeared to say to him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:20)
As the angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus the shepherds were “terrified,” and the angel had to say to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” (Luke 2:10)
Throughout the Christmas story we see the “fear factor” show up at major decision points in the story line followed by the reminder, “do not be afraid.” Giving in to fear at any one of these decision points could have altered the course of history and the defining moment of the birth of Christ. In spite of all of this, fear did not win.
Fear Factor
So what is it that we are afraid of? As I look at the situations in my life and the situations that I have seen others deal with, there are three general fears that can affect us in profound ways. These three fears draw distinct parallels to the Christmas story.
Fear of Failure
This fear looks internally, and is a fear about who we are and what we are capable of. Don’t believe me? Examine your own life. I’m sure that most all of us can think of something in our lives that we are not doing right now, that we would definitely do if we knew that there was not a possibility of failure.
Zechariah and Mary both struggled with the fear of failure. Zechariah asks, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” (Luke 1:18) In and of his own strength he did not see how he could possibly succeed in what the angel of the Lord was telling him. Mary questioned the angel saying, “How will this be…since I am a virgin.” (Luke 1:34) She too did not see how she could be successful in this endeavor.
Fear of Judgement
This fear looks externally and at its core really becomes a fear of others. Maybe its friends, maybe its family, maybe its coworkers; but how often have you seen those around you make life decisions based on the fear of what others might say instead of what they know to be right or true?
Joseph had to overcome this very fear. He was faced with the fear of what others might say if he married a woman who was known to be pregnant with child. He could choose to exercise his right to divorce Mary quietly and ignore the will of the Lord. He could also choose to stay with her and face the consequences of what others might say of his wife as a potential adulteress or the wrongful accusations that might have been made against him knowing that he had not had a sexual relationship with her.
Fear of the Supernatural
This fear looks upward and is really a fear of God. Throughout the Christmas story, every time an angel of the Lord appeared, the person to whom the angel is speaking to must be reminded, “Do not be afraid.” Now granted, it’s not every day that an angel of the Lord appears to someone, so I might be afraid too! But I can think of times where I have been afraid to listen for God’s voice in my life because I was afraid of what he was going to say or that the result of what he was asking me to do would be that I would end up somewhere I wouldn’t want to be.
So what is the answer to overcoming fear?
Christmas Story Revisited
Faith Factor
I believe that the answers to help us start overcoming fear are ALSO found in the Christmas story. After the angel told Mary, “Do not be afraid” and Mary expressed doubt over how she could possibly be with child, the angel reminded her of exactly how it would be done.
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…for NOTHING is impossible with God” (Luke 1:35)
The first thing to remember is we don’t do it in our own strength, and NOTHING is impossible with God.
Serve God
“I am the Lord’s servant.” (Luke 1:38)
This was Mary’s response to the angel. Mary acknowledged that there was a God whose ways and thoughts were higher than hers. She made a decision to follow God and serve him.
Show Faith
“May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38)
Mary’s next response was to show faith and affirm that she trusted what God had said.
Surround yourself with others who will speak positive into your life
“At the time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth…Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear!…Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” (Luke 1:39-42,45)
The Bible doesn’t tell us why Mary ran straight to Elizabeth but my guess is that she knew that Elizabeth was pregnant and had experienced some of the things that she would go through. She knew that Elizabeth would be a strong support to her. She could have easily gone to others who might have ridiculed her for being too young, scorned her for being pregnant before being married, discouraged her from being with Joseph by saying he’s not the one and speaking ill of him and their coming union. But instead she went to the person who would not only encourage her but affirm the call of God on her life and encourage her to follow on in her commitment. Fear is easier to overcome when others come alongside you.
Sing songs of praise
“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will called me blessed.” (Luke 1:46)
Mary’s song, the Magnificat is one of the eight oldest Christian hymns and is frequently recited throughout Christian services. It is one of the most beautiful expressions of praise to God for who he is, what he has done, and what he is going to do through her. Ok, so maybe you shouldn’t really be singing out loud anywhere other than in your shower, but we are reminded to give praise to God for who he is and what he is doing even in the midst of our fears. Much like the Magnificat, these moments of praise can remind us of God’s strength, his mercy, and his love.
Start moving
“He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.” (Luke 1:73)
Mary and Joseph couldn’t just stay where they were to fulfill the mission God had given them. It required action. Even in the midst of possible fears, they had to keep moving in the direction God had given them. Often times while fear attempts to stifle our action, action builds courage and confidence.
Now this is a remarkable story about a woman chosen by God who chose faith over fear and bore the son of God whose birth we celebrate on this day. But I thought it might be important to remind you of one other fact that to me, makes the story even more remarkable. Based on custom and practice at this time in Biblical history, Mary was probably only 12 or 13 years old at the time the angel appeared to her and told her she was with child. I don’t have a teenage daughter but for those of you that do, I think it’s probably safe to say that if an angel appeared to her with the news of this angel, I don’t think the response would be, “yep, cool dude, no problem, I got this!”
With that in mind I’m inspired that if God can do this through a young teenage girl he can do anything through me. I’m reminded that I don’t have to overcome those fears alone, and neither do you. Just as the Christmas story demonstrates the supernatural victory of faith over fear, will you allow God to add his super to your natural today?
I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas but perhaps I should also wish you a very MARY Christmas.
“Fear knocked at the door, faith answered, and lo, no one was there.” –Anonymous
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