Fear

I read this blog http://cyndijustsayin.blogspot.com and it had a very interesting post on fear....

I remember a story someone told me of a missionary who wanted to prove the protecting power of God. This missionary went up to a man who was sick and frothing at the mouth. He wiped the foam off this man’s lips and smeared it on his own.
Sometimes death is imagined as a stalker who is forever following you. When you are a newborn or very old it is always breathing down your neck. And when something violent happens that is when it runs up to you when you are not thinking and you turn around startled at the fact that it came up on you so fast. What if we just stopped looking around our shoulders and face death? Not only face death but surprise the hell out of it and kiss it smack on the lips.
I hate fear. It’s a trap. We think that if we embrace it we will be protected and prepared for any evil that might befall us. But the truth is that fear kills you. It robs you. It hurts you. It makes you do dumb things. It is wisdom, prayer, knowledge and faith that protects, prepares and gives peace. My son sales home security systems. And I think the reason he is so crappy at it is because he is not a scary guy. He can’t tell a good horror story with a straight face if his life depended on it. He stands at the front doors of strangers and tells them, “since the recession crime has increased by twenty percent” and they feel no fear. Instead they invite him and offer him cookies and lemonade. If he let his hair grow out and braid it in cornrows and places his big foot on their doorjamb then look into their souls like a soothsayer and say, “ since the recession crime has increased in your neighborhood by twenty percent…ask me how I know”, well he could retire his mother early.
Fear gets people to do what they don’t want to do. I don’t want to fear death because I am tired of thinking about it all the time. I am not afraid to die. I can look at my stalker death angel straight in the face and have no fear. But when it comes to my children and husband I feel as anxious as Obama Bodyguards. “Put on your seat belts”, “Did you check your sugar?”, “…because if you are having sex I hope you are using a condom”, “You’re warm. Get me the thermometer.” “Honey, should you be eating that?” I am like a ninja standing in the shadows willing to lay down my life if necessary to keep that death from reaching my family. I am afraid all the time. I don’t want to be overbearing, nosey, stressed out and depressed but that is the price I have to pay when I partner with fear.
What if it instead of sharing my fears with my children I share my wisdom. And instead of complaining to my husband I complement him when he makes good choices. Instead of dying to save others I rely on my faith that reminds me that Jesus already did that and He did a damn good job. If I did those things it would be like kissing death on the mouth; saying, “I am not intimidated by you. Death you are just a tool God uses to transport us from one existence to another and you can’t do anything unless He commands it. So tell your little toothless mongrel, Fear, to shut up!”
I think the foam tasting missionary was stupid but at least he wasn’t afraid.