This week's newsletter from Karen

In 2014 Chapman University released findings on a comprehensive study on fears in America. The top five fears according to their research were:

1. Walking alone at night.
2. Becoming the victim of identity theft.
3. Safety on the Internet.
4. Being the victim of a mass/random shooting.
5. Public speaking.

Would you concur with these findings? Are these fears rational? Is your top fear on the list?

Fears—it seems—are now very personal. It’s almost as if we feel that no matter where we are or what we are doing, we’re in danger. For example, if you have a fear of being a victim of identity theft, you would be on constant alert of anyone and everyone around you whom you didn’t know, wondering if they were “out to get” you.

According to the study, many factors go into the development of one’s fears - education level and specific types of television consumption as two components leading to the fears making the list. But, as believers, how are we to deal with our fears?

There are so many references in the Bible to answer this question.  Here are but a few…

Psalm 55:5 and 16, “Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me… As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.”
Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”
Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?”

My prayer this week is that each of us would search in and meditate on God’s Word as it relates to our fears so that none of us would harbor any fear keeping us from being the person God intends for us to be.