Somewhere between peace and love lies fear.  Being afraid is one of the experiences we all have in common. When I tell you, "I'm scared!" you know what I'm talking about. In my life, I have been afraid of many things: afraid of the dark, afraid that shots at the doctor's were going to hurt, afraid I would strike out in baseball, and afraid that my parents were going to die. And many of the things I was afraid were going to happen have indeed happened. My fear did not stop the scary events from coming true. Many of those fears have actually pointed toward my future.

That makes sense when you think about it. Often, what frightens us most is the future we know is coming. Fear can paralyze us. It can also motivate us. I was afraid my parents would die and yet I knew that it was going to happen - someday. I could live in terror anticipating that loss. I could deny or suppress my feelings of fear. Either way, however, I would be no better prepared to face it when the time came. Or I could take another course. My fear could motivate me to learn from them and be more present with them. I could be slower to be angry or upset with them and quicker to reconcile. In that way, my fear could lead me to learn and grow and to deepen the relationship. As a result, the fear could become less debilitating even though the loss would be no less painful.

When we are able to own our fear and then hold it together with our faith, fear can begin to lose its hold on us. To own our fear means to acknowledge it, articulate it, and let it become real and tangible to us. To hold it with faith means to step decisively in the direction of what we value most in life. It means affirming who we are and where we are going. When we move along the pathway of discovering and living that sense of call-toward engagement that arouses our passion and brings us joy - such action can reveal how shallow our fears actually are.

Fear can be problematic in our lives by taking us out of our deepest selves, but fear is not ultimately the problem. In fact, fear can be helpful by alerting us to real danger. So, rather than trying to talk yourself out of feeling afraid, which seldom works anyway, let fear move you toward your deeper self. Let it motivate you to let go of the false self you may be borrowing or be more honest with the people in your life you are just trying to please: in other words, to act with love. Fear can be a narrow gate onto a winding road that is the journey of life. Faith is the only way through that gate and along that road. It can seem to be a lonely road, but we don't walk it alone.

Thanks for continuing to bless me as we journey together.  

Jack F. Price, Senior Pastor

Crossroads Church

Kansas City, MO

(816) 931-8420

If you haven't read Jack's book Finding Faith: Honest Answers about God, the Bible, and the Church Today order it today: www.amazon.com or www.barnesandnoble.com

or directly from Jack at www.findingfaithnow.com

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