Lent 5 - Monday - Overcoming Fear

Text: Mark 9:30-41 (see below)

Jesus and his disciples are now heading south from Caesarea Philippi through the Galilee and on to Jerusalem. Over the course of the next 100 verses or so of Mark's account, Jesus will be doing a tremendous amount of individual teaching with the disciples. We will be reading all of those teachings and the disciples’ reactions over the course of the next week.

What strikes me in this first lesson is the disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ second prediction of his passion. In Chapter 8 Jesus said that the Son of Man would be killed. Now, here in Chapter 9 the verb has changed to “they will kill him.” The reaction from the disciples is one of great fear. They are afraid. The Twelve do not ask Jesus anything about what they cannot understand. For Mark, fear will play a tremendous role in the Passion narrative. Think about when the disciples scatter after Jesus has been arrested or when the women leave the tomb after the incredible announcement of resurrection. In both cases, the followers of Jesus flee because of their fear.

Fear is real. All of us have to deal with our fears at one time or another. Sometimes, fear will paralyze us. Other times, fear can be a great motivator. The question is how do I deal with my fears? How do you and I overcome our fears?

When I googled “overcoming fear”, 17 million hits came up in 0.38 seconds! Good gracious! Now I assure you that I did not spend the time to look at all 17 millions sites, but I did find some interesting information about handling our fears.

At positivityblog.com, Hendrik Edberg offers seven suggestions in overcoming fear. One of the seven points he makes is that our fears are often based on unhelpful interpretations. Edberg writes: “As humans we like to look for patterns. The problem is just that we often find negative and not so helpful patterns in our lives based on just one or two experiences; or by misjudging situations; or through some miscommunication. When you get too identified with your thoughts you’ll believe anything they tell you. A more helpful practice may be to not take your thoughts too seriously. A lot of the time they and your memory are pretty inaccurate. But this is a good thing too. Because it opens you up to re-examining old beliefs you have based on experiences you may have interpreted in not the most helpful way. It opens you up to try again and see what happens this time instead of staying stuck in thought, inaction and fear”

(positivityblog.com). Read more of Edberg’s post by clicking here.

At the Psychology Today website, you can spend literally hours understanding how to overcome your fear. Melanie A. Greenberg, PhD., writing in an article entitled, The Six Best Ways to Overcome Anxiety, suggests that “anxiety makes us feel threat is imminent yet most of the time what we worry about never happens. By recording our worries and how many came true, we can notice how much we overestimate the prospect of negative events.” In her second suggestion she writes: “Even if a bad event happened, we may still be able to handle it by using our coping skills and problem-solving abilities or by enlisting others to help. Although not pleasant, we could still survive encountering a spider, having a panic attack, or losing money. It's important to realize that very few things are the end of the world” (psychologytoday.com).

Recently, I was part of a discussion group which was asked to share with one another what was happening in their lives at the present moment. A young woman by the name of Michelle told the group that she had just been terminated from a job and that she was anxious about the future. With enough money put aside for only ninety days of living, you could hear the fear in her voice as she spoke about the difficulties of finding new employment.

But while she shared with us her fear, she also told us about her faith. Deeply connected with her Higher Power, Michelle believed that God had always been with her in the good and in the bad, on the mountaintop and in the valley. She described in vivid detail how in the past when she had lost a job, she felt the presence of the Spirit guiding her to a new understanding of herself and her vocation. Michelle said that in this present situation, she was turning her fears and anxieties over to God and trusting that all would be well.

Very few of the 17 million sites that I viewed gave any credit to God assisting us in overcoming our fears. Most of the suggestions were self-help, mind over matter. But what if you and I handed over that fear or anxiety that we are currently carrying at this very moment to God?

The Good News is that God can bear our fears and anxieties. Through prayer, God can assist us in handling the fear that we face. Saint Paul writing in his Letter to the Church at Philippi stated boldly: “Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving let your request be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

“Be anxious about nothing….. let your request be known to God….and God’s peace will guard your heart and mind.” These words were written by a man who probably had more moments of fear and anxiety over the course of his earthly ministry than most of us. But, Paul was free because he trusted in the grace and power of God.

The Bible is a tremendous source of strength for those who are living fearful or anxious lives. May I be humble enough to suggest that you find a Bible and open to the following texts:

Psalm 23:4

Isaiah 41:13

Exodus 14:13

Deuteronomy 31:6

2 Timothy 1:7

Psalm 27:1

Luke 1:30

Luke 2:10

Hebrews 13:6

John 14:27

What if the disciples in today’s lesson had turned that fear over to the power of God? Whatever your fear or anxiety, I pray that you will find the strength and courage to turn them over to God; that you will find wisdom and power from God in your prayer; and that the Words of Holy Scripture will guide and protect you this day.

Love One Another - Brian

Worry

A Swedish proverb

“Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.”

Source: www.positivityblog.com

Mark 9:30-41

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.