FEAR IS OUR ENEMY

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

FEAR IS OUR ENEMY

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but
OF POWER AND OF LOVE AND OF SOUND
MIND” (2 Timothy 1:7).

“There is no fear in love; but PERFECT LOVE
CASTS OUT FEAR, because fear involves
torment. But HE WHO FEARS HAS BEEN MADE
PERFECT IN LOVE. We love Him because He
first loved us” (1 John 4:18-19).

“So do not fear; you are of more value than
many sparrows” (Matthew 10:31).

“Be anxious for nothing, but IN EVERYTHING
BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION, WITH
THANKSGIVING, LET YOUR REQUESTS
BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD; and the peace
of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus” (Phillilppians 4:6-7).

The Holy Apostle Paul advises that we rely on the Almighty God rather than retreating to our own illusions of control, but he exhorts us to focus on those things which are truly beautiful. Therefore, by training our minds to focus on content that gives us joy, we begin to indirectly influence our emotions that cause us anxiety. Our holy Geronda Thaddeus identifies cultivating positive thoughts like gratitude, rather than negative thoughts, as a way through which we enter into greater levels of hesychia. He writes, “Our life depends on the kind of thoughts we nurture. If our thoughts are peaceful, calm, meek, and kind, then that is what our life is like. If our attention is turned to the circumstances in which we live, we are thrown into a whirlpool of thoughts and can have neither peace nor tranquility.”

Another great and Holy Father of the Church, Saint John Chrysostom writes about how to treat fear. He teaches dealing with fear by redirecting our focus from worldly threats (poverty, illness, etc.) to God’s presence and promises, emphasizing that only sin is truly fearful and that struggle strengthens virtue; he advises constant prayer, remembrance of God’s nearness, and cultivating a “holy fear” of displeasing Him, which transforms anxiety into spiritual vigilance and perseverance. To build a protective wall against worldly anxiety the believer must remember Christ’s words, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). No Christian should be dismayed by setbacks but he/she must keep praying until God answers, breaking the “yoke” of despair.

The believer in Christ ought to use prayer and mindfulness (nepsis) to push away fearful or negative thoughts as soon as they appear and to always rely on God’s presence and power, not personal strength to overcome challenges. Strengthened by the grace of God, we can work through discouragement in any form that it may attack us. Realizing our dependence on Christ – “For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5) – teaches us to be humble. Our Lord Christ Himself says to us: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? ..Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin…Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Matthew 6:25-34). Severe anxiety, not thoughtful planning and care, is what is warned against here. However, persistent anxiety over the things of this world may indicate internal insecurity and possibly a weak faith in God.

A believer is a person who is truly grounded in faith, always positive and confident, because of his/her faith in God and knowing that everything depends on God’s will and wisdom. Our Lord is in control of His creation including of course humanity. As Christians we remember vividly the words of Christ, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:78). The threefold exhortation, “ask–be given, seek–find, knock–be opened,” promises the availability of God’s help. The verbs are present progressive: be asking, be seeking, be knocking. We ask in prayer; seek by learning God’s truth; and knock by doing God’s will. Don’t we all say “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

It is entirely unchristian to allow fear to take control of us knowing how debilitating fear is. Fear causes paralysis not only physically but mentally, emotionally, psychologically and even spiritually. The person ceases to be himself/herself from fear. If a Christian is to surrender to anyone or anything it should be to His Master, Lord, Savior and Creator. Our daily challenges and problems for God are trivial and nonsensical. There is no reason to panic and or to fall apart. Every problem has a solution, every challenge has a way of resolving it. One has to consider his/her options, and to prudently and patiently seek the right solution. One very important thing to consider, of course, is not to overreact, and of course not to overanalyze our concerns. A prudent way is to confront each problem individually and not to attack everything at once. This is called a common sense approach.

My father, may he rest in peace, taught all of his children not to be afraid of life but “to go forth and to never fear.” He actually practiced what he taught us. He did not have much of an education but he was a man of profound faith. He had a strong prayer life and he would never make any decision without praying about it and seeking God’s aid. He was handicapped but that did not stop him from providing for his family even when all the odds were against him. He persevered until he accomplished what he set out to do. An example of this was that he had a serious issue that he felt that he needed an audience with Frederica the queen of Greece to resolve it and surprisingly he met with the queen and he resolved it. Following the Civil war in Greece 1946-1948 while we lived in Athens he had heard of America and after praying about it he set out for our family to immigrate to the United States. At that time, however, in order to come to America a person needed a sponsor, possibly a relative who was a citizen. Did this stop him or discourage him? No! By the grace of God he thought of a person from our village, wrote to him and explained our situation and was able to convince him to be the sponsor for my brother and sister. And eventually the entire family immigrated to America. These accomplishments were not his accomplishments alone, but he was guided and inspired by our Lord Christ, the Mother of God and Saints. There is no question that he had great and sincere faith, courage, and confidence. By faith and courage he accomplished what was believed to be impossible. When he prayed to our Almighty God and Savior, his prayer was not only a petition but truly a dialogue with God.

Jesus says, “With men this is impossible, but WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE” (Matthew 19:26). There is a Greek phrase that says, “Τά αδύνατα παρά ανθρώποις, δυνατά παρά Θεώ” (Ta adynata para anthropois, dynata para Theo”). In other words, “what is impossible with people/men/mankind is possible with God.” A Christian must be willing to learn from God’s teachings and allow Him to lead the way. The Almighty and Loving God will not violate our free will and, therefore, we need to ask Him to lead us, for He said, “I am the way, truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

__________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
+ Saint John Chrysostomos

+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George