Change

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.”  (Jim Rohn)

Fear is defined an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. What makes you afraid? Is it snakes, writing, the dark, rejection, love, death, spiders, the unknown, public speaking, flying, storms, or failure? Though the reasons are varied, are we all hardwired to feel fear? Can fear hold us back from what we want to do to? What about people who appear to be fearless of everything?

 Scientists have found the amygdala (almond-shaped bundles of neurons buried deep in the brain, and just above the brain stem) are central to the fear process. When you sense something dangerous, the amygdala sends excitatory signals to other parts of the brain. The areas of the brain associated with language and memory become active in the face of fear. If the amygdala sounds the alarm, the other areas help evaluate the threat level and how to respond.

Being around people who are afraid can make you fearful. Our reactions to others’ fear might be part of what holds particular adults back from trying new things. No matter your age, you’ll never overcome a fear holding you back by walking away from it. Fear makes us doubt our Heavenly Father cares for us. Is that actually true? How can God help you deal with your fears? First, your Heavenly Father has some lessons on fear He needs to teach you:

God, in His grace, teaches us to have a healthy fear of the consequences of sin. He has done all that is necessary for us to go to Heaven one day. “Now, everything has been heard.   Here is my final advice: Honor God and obey his commands.  This is the most important thing people can do.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, ICB) God offered His Son (Jesus) to satisfy His price for our sins, and to allow us to be His children. “And as we live with Christ, our love grows more perfect and complete; so we will not be ashamed and embarrassed at the Day of Judgment, but can face him with confidence and joy because he loves us and we love him too.” (1 John 4:17, TLB)

“Being brave isn't the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it. “(Bear Grylls)[i]

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[i] Inspired by the sermon “Amazing Grace: My Fears Relieved” (installment four) Sunday October 28, 2018, Pastor Dave Jansen, CenterPoint Gahanna Church Gahanna, OH.

Sources used:

·        “Fear” by the English oxford living dictionary

·        “What are you afraid of?” by TONY ROBBINS