Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, and Fear by Gregory L. PhD Jantz

Author:Gregory L. PhD Jantz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Self-Help, SEL036000
ISBN: 9781441232670
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-03-14T00:00:00+00:00

There are so many things in life to be truly fearful of. So often we neglect those things in order to concentrate on the monsters of our own making, which, perversely, can seem more manageable. So a person so frightened of going to the doctor doesn’t, only to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer. A person afraid to fly has a life-threatening car wreck five miles from home. A person terrified of becoming fat, at eighty-two pounds, goes to sleep one night and never wakes up. Our fears are often completely disengaged from the reality of risk. We decide our own dangers, often disregarding what is truly dangerous. We chase after the things that will harm us and run away from the things that can save us. Gaining proper perspective means changing how we think.

Are you ready to do that? Facing your fear means changing who you are, because up to this point you’ve been willing to live with your fear. You’ve allowed it to be part of who you are and also to define who you are. You’ve been trying to manage your fear instead of working toward relieving it altogether. You’ve allowed your fear to get bigger and your world to get smaller.

Remember, please, that I’m not talking about reasonable fears or reasonable precautions. I’m not talking about the very reasonable fear of sitting on the edge of a ledge overhanging the Grand Canyon. I’m talking about not even going to the Grand Canyon because you have a fear of heights. If you’re unwilling to visit the Grand Canyon because of fear, your world is diminished. The more Grand Canyons you avoid, put off, or run from, the more your life is diminished. We were meant to live this life head up with all senses engaged, not huddled in a corner attending to our monsters.

This world is a large and often inhospitable place. In comparison, you and I can seem very small. Small things, by nature, fear larger things. But we are only small in and of ourselves. Remaining small is one option, but another exists. Each of us has been given the option to align ourselves with something bigger, something larger, something greater than ourselves. As a Christian, I choose to align myself with that bigger and greater someone, God and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (1:7). I need these three—power, love, and self-discipline—to banish my own monsters. Power allows me to be stronger than my monsters. Love motivates me to fight them. Self-discipline prepares me for the next battle. These gifts are not mine alone; they are yours also, given by a loving and gracious Father.

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