Fear has a way of gripping us into inactivity, and sometimes, it can paralyze us. Someone has said that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but fear. Perhaps, this is why the psalmist said, “When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4, NASB). We are born with certain natural fears and then we acquire others. The ancient world feared war, disease and pestilence. All over the world persons are suffering from these fears more than we can imagine. Humans usually have little or no control over these. What we can do is acknowledge our situation, as grim as it might be, and love and trust God with our whole being; that beats the agony of fear.
About the Author: H. Lamar Smith
Native of Alabama. Graduated from Valley High School, Valley, AL. Graduate of Trevecca Nazarene College, 1966. Graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University, M.A. 1992. Pastored churches in Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Alabama.