The cause of fear

I recently was watching a show about the 2004 Tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia and Thailand.

It was both horrible to hear the stories of the people who endured the tsunami and awe-inspiring to see the power of nature when it decides to act.

And living in a coastal town myself that is literally below sea level and only protected by man-made walls, keeping back the sea – well, it got my mind thinking is all I will say.

Fear can come from anywhere.

From worries about your job or money, to health situations, to everyday life situations like a car coming a bit too close on a road.

But what really causes it? What is the root of the problem?

And the answer to that depends on who you ask.

Ask a neuroscientist and they will say it is chemical response in the amygdala of the brain.

Ask an evolutionary biologist and they will say it is natural evolutionary response and survival mechanism triggering our fight or flight response.

But ask the Bible? And it will tell you that unhealthy fear comes from lack of trust in God. As it is says in Psalm 27:1

Or in Jesus words in Matthew 6:33-34:

Or as Paul says to Timothy in 2 Tim 1:7:

There are many types of unhealthy fear, from worrying to just being plain afraid of something.

And while it is okay to have a “healthy” fear of things that can hurt you, excessive or crippling fear shows us that we need to grow in our faith and trust in God.

Yes, many things can hurt us, and there are many reasons to be afraid.

But as long as we put our firm faith in the Lord we can trust that no matter the circumstance, God will be right there beside us.

But at this point, you may be asking, wait a second, what about fear of the Lord? Is that not fear? 

Well we will address that point tomorrow.

Until then,

Be Blessed

Aaron

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