Buffy St. John: Blog

Everyone at one time or another feels fear. Fear is an emotion from which we find it difficult to escape. There are a number of different types of fear; fear of the unknown, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of financial loss, fear of the loss of a loved one, fear of illness, fear of physical harm, and fear of death, to name a few. Fear will come, but how we handle it is key.
Being a Christian does not isolate a person from fear. Fear is an emotion and emotions are part of our human makeup. But, as an emotion, fear can either paralyze or motivate. I remember the Nike shoe commercials that called us to “JUST DO IT.” It's a “feel the fear and do it anyway” type of thing. That actually is the definition of courage.
Many books have been written about the issue of paralyzing fear, and many motivational speakers have gotten rich on other people's fears. Basically, we pay a few hundred or even thousands of dollars to get a pep talk, go through a weekend of exercises, [...]

In times of crisis, people react in different ways. Some run away and some confront and face head on what assails them.

All of us have experiences which have taught us a thing or two. All of us have had some sort of training whether on the job, in life or formal education. All of this combined with the spiritual gifts we are given by the Holy Spirit make us very special people indeed. In studying the book of Ephesians we come to:
Ephesians 2:1-10 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places [...]