Disarming Fear; Part II: Stop Listening to Fear
“Following Jesus will mean surrendering the power that masquerades as security in order to love the neighbour and welcome the stranger. It will mean avoiding the safe path in order to pursue the good. But in a culture of fear, we find such risks all the more difficult since our natural inclinations lead us to close in on ourselves when we face danger. How can we maintain a posture of the open hand towards a world that scares us?” (Scott Bayder-Saye)
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I struggle with fear. I don’t like to admit it, but I scare easily and have had to learn how to hide my fear. Throughout much of my life, instead of confronting the fear, I have created convenient distractions to hide the fear.
Recently, I started working in a neighbourhood in the Cape Flats that has been struggling with gang violence. Even though I have not yet personally encountered any violence, and the neighbourhood is actually quite safe, I am sometimes afraid when I spend time there. This last week we went walking through the streets doing home visits and I was again reminded of the fact that the majority of the people in that neighbourhood are just like me, a person with hopes and dreams, struggles and fears. They are also mothers, sisters, children, brothers, and breadwinners, just like my own neighbourhood.
If I listen to my fear, I would never be able to live into the Kingdom of God. The only way to overcome fear is to choose to trust God. I have realised that fear is always present. Our South African culture in particular has deeply engraved fear seared into our everyday lives on almost every level, and so overcoming it is a constant choice of faith.
I need to continually choose to trust God. I need Him to continually transform how I see the world, and I need to surrender myself and my fear to Him. It is only as we do this that we are able to live in the Kingdom of God here on earth.