I’ll never forget the first day of a golf tournament I played in a couple of years ago. It was at Mangrove Bay and it was my first real competitive tournament. It turned out to be a memorable day but not in the way you might think.
I arrived at the course early, all geared up for the round. I hit a few practice balls and putts and was feeling really good about my game. It was a shotgun start and my foursome’s first hole was on the back nine. My partner and I rode out to the hole. We spoke about what a beautiful day it was and how excited were about the tournament. Then we turned a corner and there basking in the sun on the cart path was the biggest rattlesnake I had ever seen! It was coiled up ready to strike. My partner turned the golf cart sharply to the left and the force of turn shoved part of my body out of the cart and the snake jumped toward me. Thankfully we moved out of the way fast enough!
Now how do you think I played golf that day? My adrenalin was pumping so hard I couldn’t swing a golf club. I played awful. I was shaking for half of the round. That rattlesnake got my attention and so did my anxiety! I could not function for hours after that!
Fear is certainly an emotion that gets our attention! No matter how tough or prepared we are in life, fear creeps up on all of us. In fact, if I took a poll today and asked how many of you are worried or anxious about something going on in your life the majority of you would raise your hands. Perhaps it has to do with family or a job or a personal struggle. We are all familiar with fear and anxiety.
So is Jesus. Jesus often saw fear in those that he loved. Jesus constantly confronted the problem of fear. If you look through the gospels you see that Jesus is always saying: “Fear not! Don’t be over anxious. Do not let your heart be troubled. Do not let it be afraid. Do not worry.” And, of course, Jesus asked the familiar question, “Why are you so afraid?”
Fear Is Healthy
If we are honest this morning we get defensive when we hear Jesus’ question and respond: “We are afraid because there is a lot for us to be afraid of these days – terrorism, political divisions, the threat of war, not to mention all of our personal fears.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported 30 years ago that the greatest fears of grade school children were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises. Today, kids are afraid of the following: 1) Divorce, 2) Terrorism, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being assaulted.
Times have changed and so have our fears!
You want to know the top five fears of adults today? 5) Intimacy, 4) The Dark, 3) Heights, 2) Flying, 1) Public Speaking. Death didn’t even make the top 5! It was number 6. This means that most of you would rather die in a plane crash at night sitting next to someone they don’t like than get up here and do I am doing right now. You know what I call that? Job security!
Honestly, there are many things for us to fear. There is good reason for us to fear the things we do. Fear is healthy. God has given us the emotion of fear for a purpose. I don’t trust a pilot who is not afraid. They will not be focused enough. Experts in aviation say complacency is a pilot’s worst enemy. You could say the same for all of us. A lot of us are alive because at one time we had a healthy fear of something that threatened us. We should never get rid of fear. We want children to be afraid of certain things: matches, suspicious strangers, drugs, and drinking and driving.
Fear is Constructive
Fear serves a great purpose. It protects us. It also motivates us to do the right thing. Why do you pay your income tax? Because you like to write checks to the government? No, because you fear getting a penalty or going to jail! Why do we take out fire insurance? Why do we lock our doors or pay for elaborate alarm systems? Because we like to spend money? No. We want to protect ourselves (J. Wallace Hamilton, Ride the Wild Horses, p. 104).
Let’s face it! We are motivated by fear everyday of our lives, and fear causes us to do good and constructive things.
I am glad there is fear and worry in the world! I worry enough about my sermons to prepare them instead of “winging” them. You worry enough about your life to put on a seat belt before your drive to church on Sunday mornings. Many of you worry enough about your friends and family in this church to pray for them and check on them when they hurt. Many of you worry enough about your souls to come to church.
Everyone I know who has done something valuable in this world has worried about something significant. Moses worried about the people of God. Mother Theresa worried about those dying in Calcutta. Albert Schweitzer worried about disease. Abraham Lincoln worried about our country. Martin Luther worried about the church. Martin Luther King, Jr. worried about racism. Billy Graham worries about those who don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior. Jesus Christ worried about the least, the last, and the lost. God worried enough about this world to come down in Jesus Christ to die for us so that we could be free, so that we could be whole. Fear has a great purpose in this world.
Fear Gone Bad
However, like many things that God has given us, fear can be perverted. Fear is often the tool of evil. I have seen fear paralyze people and steal joy from people’s lives. I have seen fear stilt creativity and energy. I have seen fear put people into a frenzy. In fact, psychologists have put a name to many of the irrational fears people have:
Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people.
Aerophobia: fear of drafts.
Claustrophobia: fear of closed spaces
Agoraphobia: fear of open spaces
Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people.
Levophobia: fear of objects on the left side of the body.
Dextrophobia: fear of objects on the right side of the body.
Photophobia: fear of lights
Auroraphobia: fear of the northern lights.
Calyprophobia: fear of obscure meanings.
Thalassophobia: fear of being seated.
Stabisbasiphobia: fear of standing and walking.
Ergophobia: fear of work.
Neophobia: fear of the new
Odontophobia: fear of teeth.
Graphophobia: fear of writing in public.
Phobophobia: fear of being afraid.
There are more than 80 phobias are listed! We find humor in these fears, but they are tragic. They are overriding fears that control and destroy the lives of people. They are obsessive fears and worries that tear people’s lives apart. This is the kind of fear we are talking about today. This is the elephant in the room: fears that we don’t have a handle on.
This is the kind of fear Jesus was speaking about in our passage for today. Jesus is not telling us never to worry; he is telling us to not allow worry to rule our lives. The Greek word “worry” in this passage denotes an obsessive worry, a paralyzing worry. The word “worry” in the Greek literally means to be pulled apart in every direction.
Jesus spoke of this neurotic worry when he told the parable of the sower and mentioned the seeds that fell among thorns. He said the worries of the world “choked” that good seed. The elephant of anxiety chokes many people. According the Anxiety Disorders Association of America:
- Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older (18.1% of U.S. population)
- 6.8 million Americans suffer from General Anxiety Disorder
- 2.2 million Americans suffer from OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- 6 million Americans suffer from Panic Disorder
- 7.7 million Americans suffer from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- 15 million Americans suffer from Social Anxiety Disorder
- 19 million Americans suffer from Specific Phobias
Getting a Handle on Our Fears
Today I want to put handles on this sermon and give you some concrete things you can do today to help you overcome your fears and live life the way God intended – with joy, hope and peace. First, let me say that if you believe you suffer from an anxiety disorder seek professional help. Anxiety disorders are highly treatable but only about one third of those who suffer receive treatment. There are counselors and physicians that can help you. Call the church and we will help you find someone.
Next, I want to give you some practical help for your fears. If you put into practice what I am about to tell you the elephant of anxiety will move out of your life.
1. Face Your Fears
Most fears are like bullies in the school yard. Once we stand up to them, they fold and go away. Most people forget this. I know people whose fears grow bigger because they will not face them. They deny them or cover them up, thinking they will just go away, but most fears just don’t go away. What we must do is stand up to our fears and face them. Once we do this our fears become more manageable.
Today, write down all of your fears. Just get them down on paper. There is something about getting things down on paper that makes them more manageable. Next, write above all of the things you fear: Over 80% of these things will never come to pass. It is true!
J. Arthur Rank, an English executive, decided to do all of his worrying on one day each week. He chose Wednesdays. When anything happened that gave him anxiety, he would write it down and put it in his worry box and forget about it until next Wednesday. The interesting thing was that on the following Wednesday when he opened his worry box, he found that most of the things that had disturbed him the past six days were already settled. It would have been useless to have worried about them.
Let me give you a great tip to help you get control of your fears. Whenever you get anxious about something, visualize it. Once you have a good, clear picture of your fear, then put in the front of your picture three big, green neon letters – W.T.W. See them flashing in front of your picture. The letters stand for “Wait to Worry.” Wait to worry because most of the things we worry about never materialize.
Another thing you ought to do with your list is write down next to each fear the worst thing that could happen. I think you will find when you reflect on the “worst case scenario” that, with God’s help, you can handle it.
2. Understand Your Fears
A lot of times we fear things we don’t understand. This is why fear is often the beginning of wisdom. So may your fear motivate you to gain understanding!
For centuries, people were terrified by the sun’s eclipse. But now we are not afraid because we know what it is (Hamilton, p. 107). Fear has motivated people to go into laboratories and search for a cure and cause for diseases. Fear has motivated people to become experts in important fields. There was a study done a few years ago which concluded that many students who go to medical school to become surgeons are motivated by the fear of pain. They channel that fear to help others get relief from pain.
Fear is often like the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy and the gang went down the yellow brick road to see the wizard. Once they got to the wizard, they were terrified. They could not see him, but he had a big booming voice. When the curtain was pulled back they were shocked to discover that the so called wizard was just a little man with a microphone. It was an illusion. It is the same with our fears. They seem so scary and ominous but quite often when we pull the curtain back we find that there is nothing to be afraid of. It is an illusion.
As a rule we are not afraid of a thing, once we know what that thing is. This is the premise that goes into effective counseling. A lot of our irrational fears are buried deep in some past experience. An effective counselor knows how to shed light on that fear and show it for what it really is. Sometimes when people know the truth about their fear, they are set free. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free” (Hamilton, p. 106-107).
3. Fix What You Can Control – Give God What You Can’t Control
The truth is most of us worry about things we have no control over. And most of us worry about things that we could easily solve. The problem is that we spend our energy and resources on those things we can’t control instead of those things we can.
Take a hard look at your list of fears. Circle the ones you can control, and take action on them. Next, cross out the ones you can’t control and write next to them, “Given to God.”
Do you want to know why I know so much about the subject of fear and anxiety? Because I suffer from an anxiety disorder. I have suffered with anxiety since I was in my 20’s. I have had panic attacks and bouts with obsessive thinking. There were times when my anxiety was paralyzing. I could not get into elevators, and I thought irrationally about my health. One time I was convinced I had a speech disorder and went to see a specialist about it. He assured me several times that there was nothing wrong with me, but I did not believe him.
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive thinking, and panic disorder. So how can someone with such anxiety problems get up each week and do the one thing that terrifies most rational people? I got help. I went to the doctor and he told me I should try medication. At first I resisted. He said, “Charley, if you had diabetes or heart disease would you take medication to help your condition?” I told him I would. He replied, “Well, the brain is an organ too and yours is simply over functioning. Medication will help you get a handle on your anxiety. So I decided to take the medication and it has made a huge difference. I take Welbutrin every day.
I’ve also seen counselors on a regular basis. I think everyone should see a counselor. I’ve always believed that “a counselor without a counselor has a fool for a client.” How can I get up here and counsel you if I am not being counseled too?
Most of all, I pray every day and the Lord gives me strength. I believe God uses medication, counseling and prayer to give me the power and resources I need to serve him. Now do I still struggle with anxiety? Of course, but I can manage it. It no longer controls me.
Why am I sharing something so personal? For two reasons. One, I want to help eradicate the stigma of mental illness. Two, I hope my honesty will liberate and help those of you who suffer. If my story can give one person the courage and strength to get help and find healing then it is worth it.
Move from Fear to Faith
In the gospel of Mark there is a scene where Jesus and his disciples are on a boat and a storm begins to rage. The disciples are terrified, and they find Jesus asleep. This angers the disciples. They think Jesus is being insensitive to their needs. However, what the disciples did not realize was that Jesus was providing them an example of faith. He was so close to his Heavenly Father that nothing rattled him.
There is a true story told by Tom Butts about a tiger trainer in a big circus troupe whose act was putting tigers through their paces. One night as he was performing a car driving a half mile from the circus hit a power line and all the lights in the circus arena went out. There he was in the dark with a bunch of hungry tigers.
The man panicked for a moment but soon began speaking to the tigers and cracking his whip in his usual manner. The crowd could not see what was happening and everyone was terrified. Before long, the lights came back on, and the act continued normally. Later, a reporter asked the trainer what is was like to be in a cage full of tigers in the dark. He said, “At first, I was really scared. I knew the tigers could see me, for they can see in the dark. Then I realized that the tigers had no idea I could not see them. That’s when I began to speak and crack my whip the way I always do. It worked because they were not aware of any change in the usual performance.”
When the lights go out and your fears begin to roar, stand up to them and know that God is on your side. Just trust God and keep going. The lights will turn on again and your fear will scurry away. Amen.
For further reading check out Dr. J. Wallace Hamilton’s insightful book, “Ride the Wild Horses.” There is a wonderful chapter in there entitled, “Make a Friend of your Fear.”