SOMETIMES I AM AFRAID

I know I am not supposed to ever be fearful. I have been a believer since my youth and have always tried to be true to the things I have been taught and to the things I have learned during my 72 years. But from time to time, I really am fearful. Mostly it’s about things yet to come. The future—events I cannot foresee---areas beyond my control. I think that other persons must have these same fears and that they are probably common to our humanity. But I do not talk about them with anyone. Not even my wife or my children, or my few friends. I wonder if other people talk about them. Perhaps we all harbor them, and because we do not bring them out into the open they remain “fearful.” I have very limited awareness of things psychological but I’m sure this is in that realm. Synonyms are helpful to me here, to keep things in perspective. Some of them are: concern, worry, anxiety and the like. Perhaps if I listed a couple of examples someone might identify with me. For instance, I worry:

(“Fearful”) about being institutionalized because of my MS. I am a big (read, “overweight”) guy and if I become unable to care for myself in several basic areas, there is no way my wife could lift me about or even assist me in some ways. So off I go to some place where strangers care for me. That’s scary to me! Another area of anxiety is thinking about what would happen to my wife if something happens to me and she is left alone. The Institutional thing would break us financially (which is already tenuous) and leave her in a pickle. I know my family would help her, but that is not what we want for them or for us. There are other areas but I’m sure you get the idea by now and can stick in your own items and categories. I have several other areas also, but I want to move on a bit as there is a point to all of this (Or at least there is supposed to be!)

The point of all of this is to direct our thinking towards how we deal with these very human kinds of concerns. I would be really interested in hearing from some who would share how they deal with these issues. Particularly if you have found a way other than I have found. Someone has said, “It isn’t what you’ve got but what you do with what you’ve got!” that makes a difference. Let me share what works for me.

This is how it goes with me. It is simple and direct. It is quick and painless. It is without cost or obligation. And it is always there for me. A verse of Scripture comes to me, or a whole passage, or an influx of thought and data based on my Biblical knowledge. The reverence for the Bible seems to have fallen off in recent times. I have found throughout my life, that the claims the Bible makes for itself are true and reliable. Now if something makes claims about itself and does not come through it will very quickly self-destruct. The Scripture refers to itself as being a “Living” entity. It claims to have “Power”. In fact it says of itself, that it is the “Word of God!” These claims cannot be both true and untrue simultaneously. Neither can they be true at one time and untrue another time. The Scripture has stood the test of centuries, molded the course of history and shaped the lives of countless millions. Because some choose not to believe it does not make it invalid. Because some revile it does not make it less powerful.

It is true that this “”Living Word” has been abused, altered, misquoted, misunderstood, and misapplied, by many, over the centuries. It has caused wars, created cults, has been used by unscrupulous persons for evil ends. The Bible in History is probably the greatest example of men making choices and using good for evil that the world has ever seen or will see. It has been banned, burned and banished and it still prevails. It still remains and shall continue to be, the guiding source of all that is good, right, and enduring. Those who espouse it shall prevail and those who resist it shall fail. It has always triumphed and it always will. It tells us that everything is under control, that God has a plan for the world, and that He is leading everything to a grand and glorious conclusion. It is the Rock upon which men can build or it is the Rock upon which men dash themselves. For me, it is my Rock, and I have built my life upon it. I have not turned into some kind of “Spook” nor do I live in some state of unrealistic denial because of it. (Although I have met those who have taken the same Bible and become “Spooky and unreal!”)

In closing this Epistle let me urge you to write to me and tell me of your fear and ask me to find a Scripture, just for you, that might just help you with your fears and anxiety. Your fears and anxieties won’t just evaporate to be sure, but they will be manageable and you can be set free from any power they might hold over you.

Remember, “It’s not what you have that is important—It is what you do with what you have that makes a difference!”

Till later----Lazarus

Reach Lazarus by email to comment: lettersfromlazarus@comcast.net

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