Why Are We So Afraid?
Fear Not - Part 1
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Genesis 3:1-24, 2 Timothy 1:7, Isaiah 41:10, 43:1-7
But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
Genesis 3:9-10
… for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
No one is born afraid. When you watch young children, it is easy to see the truth in Paul’s encouragement to Timothy, that God did not give us a spirit of fear. Rather than a spirit of fear, most kids have a spirit of wonder and awe. When our daughter was young, she wasn’t afraid of anything. At three years old she jumped on her first roller coaster at Santa Land in Cherokee and thought nothing of sitting at the top of the Ferris Wheel at the fair. Nothing ever scared her. In fact, there were times when I worried that her unfettered courage and naivete would get her in trouble as she grew up, like the time when she tried to dart out between two parked cars to cross a busy downtown street.
And then something snapped. Almost overnight it seemed her fear mechanisms kicked into high gear. One day we were on our way to her gymnastics class on I-85, a route we had driven countless times, and she began to panic about being on the highway. She’s never had a problem with long road trips on the interstate before, but somewhere along the way her internal questions started to change.
Wonder and fear begin with the same question… “What if?” Wonder comes when our what-if’s consider the possibilities. What if there is something great at the end of this highway? What if that roller coaster is really fun? What if I really like this new food? What if I am actually good at this new thing I’m going to try? We could also phrase these questions as statements of wonder. “What if this turns out great?” is like saying, “I wonder what goodness and beauty is out there for me to discover?” This is the spirit of adventure and exploration and drive that motivates a child to crawl or take their first steps, and it is the spirit that brings out the best in us throughout our lives.
Fear is also a game of “what-if?” What if something bad happens? What if something goes wrong? What if I’m not enough? Instead of wondering at the possibility of something good, we immediately turn to the possibilities of something bad. In the garden, Adam and Eve’s fear began when then asked, “What if God is holding something back from us?” or “What if God is not telling us the whole truth?” or “What if God is a liar?” Of course we don’t see such fears stated so explicitly, but these are the kind of questions that lead them to entertain the possibilities suggested by the serpent.
In the story of Genesis 3 we see how easy it is for the deceiver to twist the question. He doesn’t directly challenge their trust in God? He doesn’t ask “what if God is holding something back?” Instead, he knows how to take this question of fear and reshape it into a question of wonder. “What if you could be like God, knowing good and evil?” (Genesis 3:5).
And then the woman saw that the tree was beautiful with delicious food and that the tree would provide wisdom.
Genesis 3:6
Notice how quickly her fears, her insecurities and her growing distrust in God are overshadowed by questions of wonder and possibility. This is why we are generally quick to say that we are not afraid of anything. Rather than admit that we fear not having enough, for example, we reframe our fear with a sense of purpose and possibility as we work harder and harder to gain more and more. But underneath all of our grit and positive work ethic we find Adam’s curse at work. We know that it is by the “sweat of our face” that we are working the ground and we are never quite sure if we can produce enough (Genesis 3:19). Many of the qualities and characteristics that make us look like good productive hard working citizens are actually motivated by our own anxiety and insecurity.
Fear is what happens when our sense of wonder turns to worry. It is inevitable result when our what-if’s begin to assume negative outcomes. Ultimately, it comes from a distrust of God that few of us are willing to admit. Much like Adam in the garden, God is asking “Where are you?” Why? Not because God doesn’t know where Adam is physically located. Rather it is because the first step for Adam to restore his relationship with God is to admit that he is the one who is hiding in fear and shame. The same is true for all of us. We cannot come out into the open with God or with one another until we admit we are hiding in the first place and to acknowledge why we were hiding… “Because we were naked and afraid” (Genesis 3:10).
We may not walk around naked, but we have sure crafted our fair share of designer fig leaves to hide our insecurities and our vulnerability from one another, from ourselves, and maybe even from God.
What fears are holding you back from living fully into who God has called you to be?
How is God inviting you to trade in your fig leaves for the skins he so lovingly and graciously provides?
Listen to this week’s sermon here:
Take some time to reflect on the hidden fears in your own life with this powerful song from Andrew Ehrenzeller.