Everyone has life experiences that generate fear. There are some who  allow fear to control their lives. Genesis 12:1 is a great example of how one can come to experience fear.

God asked Abraham to leave everything he knew and go to a land he would tell him about later. In Gen. 12:1 we read, "The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you.'" Think about that--sell your house, load up all your stuff, convince your wife that God spoke to you, and then just go in a direction with no final destination in mind. For many, this request would paralyze them with fear. They would have a million questions that they would want God to answer. I believe that would generate a measure of fear in all of us.

Fear has many faces and comes in many forms

• The fear of being lost
• The fear of what's under the bed (every child has had a fear of what might be under their bed at night, thus the invention of nightlights)
• Fear of failure
• Fear of public speaking happens to be the 2nd most popular fear (and, there is wishing some people had the fear of public speaking)
• Fear of the future
• Fear of government intervention/control, loss of freedoms
• Fear of germs, spiders, snakes or other creatures
• Fear of the dark
• Fear of personal harm

As I was deer hunting with friends in South Arkansas several years ago, it came to the end of the day and we had harvested 4 deer. It was dark and we had processed all of the deer at camp, when my brother-in-law said he would take the meat to the processor to package the meat. He turned and asked me to take the insides from the deer (which were in a large plastic barrel) to the back of the property and pour it out. 

Now, you need to understand a few things--it was dark, the kind of dark where you cannot see your hand in front of your face. I was to carry this barrel on the back of a 4-wheeler about 3 miles to a spot and empty the barrel. I had someone help me strap the large barrel onto the back of the 4-wheeler and drove off. After about 1.5 miles into the woods the 4-wheeler broke down. It started right back up, but only ran about 10 feet and stopped again. I decided to let it cool off for a bit, and just sat in the dark and waited. Then I heard in the distance the sound of a group of wolves howling. I thought to myself, "No problem, they are not close to me and I'm safe". 

I started the four-wheeler again; it ran a short way and stopped. I turned it off and sat in the dark again. It was too dark to see anything. I heard the wolves howling again, but this time it sounded like they were a lot closer. I thought to myself, "Jerry you are sitting on the buffet line for a wild animal feast". I had not brought a handgun or rifle with me and I was sitting there in the dark.

All of a sudden I began to feel a fear that I had never felt before. It felt like a large yellow streak was running up my back as I began to feel panicked and wondered what I might do. I knew where I was, and I knew I couldn't feel safe walking or running back to camp because of where the howling was coming from. I knew we had some deer stands close by, but I couldn't see them. I thought, "I need to walk toward them and see if I can climb up into a stand, and at least get 12 feet up in the air, away from the wolves". I then realized that I had my cell phone with me, but in the deep woods I didn't think it would work. However, God was with me! I had just enough reception to be able to call someone back at camp to come get me and bring a gun.

When I called, my friend laughed at me but came to get me. Thankfully, he got there before the wolves, and thankfully nothing happened other than I was really frightened. The guys in the deer camp laughed and made fun of how I sounded when I called, but I know they would have been afraid if they had been in my shoes. The fear that I felt that night was unlike any fear I had ever felt in my life. For a moment I was terrified. But, thank God someone was there to help me and get me out of my situation.     

I am sure as you read that crazy story you may be remembering a time in your life where fear gripped you deeply. I would love to hear your story, so write me if you'd like.

When you don't have fear, but maybe you should

I have several stories that come to mind of things I did that created opportunities for fear. I should have been afraid, but I wasn't aware of the danger I was in at the time due to immaturity and/or ignorance.