How to deal with your fears

I am well aware that many individuals who view this web site may be finding life far from easy in various ways.  Generally, this will fall into two categories of  people.  Firstly, there are those who are almost in a state of despair concerning society and the world in general; getting ever more fearful of what they see happening month by month.  As if the problems in our own nation weren’t enough, we can see the Middle East is like a volcano, which could erupt at any moment and engulf us all in trouble on an unprecedented scale. Then secondly, there are those who have “lost the plot” concerning their own personal lives.  They feel that life is passing them by and they have failed to achieve their dreams and goals.  They feel empty inside, purposeless, wondering what life is really all about and thinking, “surely there must be more to life than this.”  Many of these people are living life at a frantic pace and never get the chance to see “the wider picture”.  They work from week to week to pay the mortgage to the Building Society which owns the house they inhabit.  They rush the kids to school, rush to the shops, rush to collect the kids, rush to “afterschool” clubs and they panic in case they should fall ill because  of  the impact of breaking this hectic routine!

I have been shocked at the number of people I have met recently who quite frankly are “living life on the edge” in other words, it would only take some family problem to arise and then their whole hectic life style would come collapsing down around their ears, with very serious consequences.  Some people are so bound up with commitments to this and that, that they may be described as being in “bonded servitude”.  No wonder so many feel personally lost and find life far from easy.

 The other day I came across a true  incident which shows there is an answer to the fears and problems people face – no matter which category they fall into; it is such an encouraging story, I want to share it with you all.

 A man called Wing-Commander Edward Howell was stationed on Crete when the Germans invaded and overran the island.  Howell was badly wounded and taken prisoner.  He spent many months in a prison hospital in Greece, but he felt that the real prison he was in, wasn’t caused by the stone walls around him, but  by the stone walls within.  He had major personal issues and he knew he would never truly be free until he could deal with those issues and lay them to rest.  As he was reflecting on his problems, he began to think of God. 

 
 “What if God could set me free from being my own prisoner?  I decided to try.  As I lay there in the darkness and despair of my prison cell, far from home, I gave myself and all I have to God – for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, forever.  I entrusted Him with my life, my possessions, my career, my family and my friends.  I committed myself to choose what was right, to do and to be from then on, in so far as I could honestly see it. At that moment of decision, God spoke to me.  It was as though by that simple act of will, I had switched on the light in a dark room.  I saw the meaning of things for the first time.  With an intense thrill, I perceived “God is Love”, and I began to see what that meant for me personally. My heart filled and overflowed.  This was home at last, where you loved and were loved beyond all knowing.  Nothing could ever separate me from it, so long as I chose to stay there.  I was free at last and no walls or sentries could take my freedom from me, so long as I chose God’s way.  I found myself praying, a thing I had not done for ten years or more.  I was ecstatically happy and tears of joy flowed down my face.  I was sure and secure in the belief that now I knew the secret of living.”

In Psalm 118 verse 8 it encourages us with these words, “it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.”  What ever our fears may be, about the world in general, or  about our personal problems, there is an answer – commit yourself and your troubles to Christ and trust Him just as Wing Commander Howell did and you too will discover the secret of a joy filled life.