As I started writing today, I wanted to think about things I’m working on right now that I could study about. Fear is the first thing that came to my mind. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of success – all these things haunt me from time to time and are things that have led to relapse in the past.
So, I’m going to research Fear in the topical guide and see what I find.
One of the items I found that caught my attention was a talk about fear titled Fear. This quote stuck out:
I began to think about something that every human being experiences—something that we usually see as negative—that we would avoid if we could. Sometimes we tell ourselves that no one else suffers from this as we do, or sometimes in an effort to control it, we tell ourselves that we simply do not experience it. That something is called fear.
What am I afraid of?
When I was a kid, I think I was afraid Mom and Dad were going to get a divorce because of me. They argued a lot and usually tied it to me somehow it seemed.
When I was in college, I was afraid I didn’t have any friends. I was also afraid about not getting married or finding the right person. Later, the fear became – “What am I going to do after college?”
Since being married, I think a common fear has been, “Am I going to be able to support my family?”
Other fears since being married:
Does Becky really love me or want to be with me?
Am I enough to Becky?
Is she happy with what I’m doing?
Am I going to be able to support our family financially with another child on the way?
Am I being the kind of father Heavenly Father wants me to be?
Am I destroying myself and my family with my addictions?
What if my business doesn’t continue to grow?
What if I can’t fulfill the contracts I’m getting?
What if my business becomes so successful that I don’t know how to handle it?
I feel so alone.
I have lots of worries—what will I say, how should I act? It seems like I can’t have fun or make friends because I am always afraid of what people will think of me.
There are probably others but these are some that come to mind.
The article goes on to talk about this:
As we read the scriptures, we find that fear has been a part of the history of individuals ever since the world began. I can even imagine that in the pre-existent world, when the two plans were presented, some may have chosen Lucifer’s plan because of fear—the fear of leaving the presence of the Father with no guarantee that we would return. Lucifer perhaps played on those fears by assuring that with his plan, all would return.
Fear will and does hold me (and others) back from my true potential.
To me, fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is NOT trusting in God. Fear is something that comes from Satan. Fear is due to lack of preparation or lack of the Spirit.
So why does fear exist? What does Heavenly Father want me to learn from fear?
The speaker shares this thought:
Perhaps our Heavenly Father’s greatest hope is that through our fears we may choose to turn to him.
Submissiveness! As I fear anything, I can turn to God and “be perfected in Him.” As I fear anything, I can say a humble prayer and know that He will be there when I need Him most. As I fear anything, I can recognize that fear doesn’t come from God, but fear is an invitation to “come unto Him.”
I like what the article says about fear and agency:
We must choose to take our fears to him, choose to trust him, and choose to allow him to direct us. We must make these choices when what we feel most inclined to do is to rely more and more on our own frantic and often distorted thinking.
How I manage and handle fear is my choice. What I allow fear to do to me is my choice. I don’t think I’ve ever really submitted my will to God when it comes to temporal things like the work for the U, my career, things like that. I need to. I want to. I have to put my trust in Him in all things.
This is a great answer too:
As we try to live his commandments and pray to him, there are things he will direct us to do that will help calm our fears.
When the speaker is faced with fears, she repeats this statement:
I have had those same feelings, but it is comforting to me to know that I need only be concerned that what I do and say is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord.
This is great advice too from Vincent van Gogh:
I am always doing what I can’t do yet in order to learn how to do it.”
A large part of conquering daily fear is simply doing things that we don’t know how to do—yet.
Working increases our abilities, and as you feel your abilities increase, you will feel more secure.
Eleanor Roosevelt said this about fear:
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” (Karen McAuley, Eleanor Roosevelt, New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987, p. 105.)
Look fear in the face! Do the thing which you think you cannot do. Turn to God. Submit my will to His. Doubt not, fear not!
This is a great scripture to end with too:
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7.)
I really liked this article. There were many answers that I needed today. All I can do is submit my will to God, put my trust in Him, and go to work. By doing this I will learn, grow, and my confidence will wax strong in the presence of God. Fear will be replaced with faith and strength.
Hasta luego!
Nate
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