when unexpected fear overwhelms you, three practical steps to take
Post Highlights
- Let’s be honest
- Those tough places
- Admit your fear.
- What is fear?
- Some questions for you.
- Similar posts
Let’s be honest
The feeling of sudden fear is awful.
Let me repeat. Feeling sudden fear is awful. And it doesn’t matter why you are afraid or what you are afraid of. It could be illness, yours or others. For me, sometimes others’ illness causes me more distress than my own does! Your fear may be triggered because of past history. If you faced trauma, fear may be a very natural response to any stressors that show up. Sudden fear is not usually realistic. It’s more of an anxiety attack.
In this post, I am talking about that sudden fear that takes over your whole self.
“Do not be afraid of sudden terror……, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught.”.
Proverbs 3:25-26.
Your chest feels heavy. There is a sense of impending doom. For some, it might mushroom into a panic attack where you feel like you are going to die. I have never actually experienced a panic attack but I’ve certainly experienced prolonged fearful episodes.
I’m going to be way too honest, here. Sometimes my posts are prompted from my own experiences. That’s OK because we can certainly learn and grow from the struggles of others. I do. But for this next year, I want to focus on you, my readers. And because of that, I want you to know that I hate days when I’m anxious. I hate worrying about my health or the people I love. And I really hate it when fear cripples me.
I feel like a lousy Christian, like I’m not as kind as others. Not as good. You get it.
A personal example
These last couple of months, adjusting to the Afib meds and the worry that goes along with having the condition. While my cardiologists are highly qualified, I don’t like that they have their protocol they apply to everyone without considering the individual as a person not just a case. So my husband and I decided we needed to get away for a few days. Although I didn’t feel my best. I still managed to enjoy it. There’s nothing like a quaint little town with cute shops and especially coffee houses. We are always looking for cute out-of-the-way places.
The morning after we came home, I woke up and I felt terrific. What was that all about that? So the day was going just great and then bam! My husband started feeling ill. That threw me for a loop and I started to feel like the bottom was going to drop out. The fear was sudden and intense. Losing him is my greatest fear. I would imagine I’m preaching to the choir. It’s the greatest fear for most of us, losing someone we love.
Here’s where I focus on you.
Those tough places
Have you gone through some periods in your life when it feels like you’re a yoyo and you don’t know if you’re up or down? If you’re up, you worry about coming down? And if you’re down, you wonder when you are going to start going up.
Everyone’s tough places are different. Some handle illness like a trooper. Others handle emergencies really well. Some handle setbacks with aplomb, others not so much. What bothers one person doesn’t bother another.
For example, on the trip, I mentioned we were driving on some back roads in Kentucky. We saw a tunnel approaching. I’m slightly claustrophobic but I thought, “I can do this.” I said that because I could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, but it didn’t seem that far away. What I didn’t see was the parameters of the tunnel. Only one car could go through it at a time; it was such a tight fit. The ceiling and sides were practically touching our vehicle. It looked very much like the picture above. Wouldn’t you be scared?
I knew I couldn’t do it so I closed my eyes and told my husband to tell me when we were at the end because I was terrified. But at least I knew what I was afraid of. But not all fear is that obvious.
Let’s look at fear more closely. The most important thing to know about fear is:
Admit your fear.
As long as we pretend we’re braver than we are, we will flounder. Did you know there are more verses in the Bible addressing fear more than any other subject? (The link I just listed has a lot of them but I can’t find a complete list anywhere. Also, from what I’ve gathered, the word fear and its companion “anxiety” are used interchangeably but in most instances mean the same thing. Here’s another link to check out.)
And why do you think that is? That the Bible is full of verses about fear?
You are normal
It’s because God, in his wisdom, knew fear would be our number one nemesis. And so he provided as many verses as we could possibly need. Interestingly enough, there are few examples in the Bible of people admitting their fear. But do know who did?
Christ.
What do you think sweating drops of blood is the result of? Fear. Fear to such a degree, our Jesus asked for the situation to be changed. He didn’t want to go through that dark tunnel either. But the fact that he did means we have a Savior who has experienced everything we will. That includes fear. It means when we reach out to him in our own fear, he gets it not only from a divine level but from a very human one as well.
What is fear?
There are two types: functional and pervasive.
Functional fear is the kind of fear we need to survive. It alerts us to danger. It’s the fear that tells you danger is lurking. It’s the kind of fear we need to pay attention to.
A young woman who feels fear around a certain man, should pay attention to it and run! If we sense that we are in a fearful situation of any kind, it’s a heads up to do something. This is the functional fear that has empowered generations to survive. It’s fight or flight. It’s a necessary part of our genetic makeup for the survival of the human race.
damages our health
I wrote earlier about how continued fear is physically damaging to our physical health. When you are always in this mode of fight or flight, your body is producing an overload of cortisol, which is beneficial in the right amounts and for the right reasons, but incredibly harmful when you are constantly in this state.
Continued release of cortisol raises havoc with the body and with the mind. Anxiety is one of the results that affects our mental health.. The two words, fear and anxiety, are practically interchangeable. You really can’t have one without the other.
Anxiety and fear go hand – in- hand. It’s a vicious cycle. And most of our fears are usually unrealistic.
Pervasive fear is always lurking in the shadows. It is one of Satan’s most effective tools. If he can keep us afraid, he keeps us from looking to God. Obviously, having some of those Bible verses on hand can prove very useful. My favorite is this one and it doesn’t even use the word “fear”.
Some questions for you.
What are you afraid of?
No, really, what are you really afraid of when you are at your most honest? Get down to the root cause. It’s often related to loss, something you worry could happen in the future. It is most likely unrealistic.
Why are you afraid of it? Sometimes we can know what we are afraid of but don’t know why. For example, I get terrified when my husband gets a simple cold. Why? Because I’m worried I’ll lose him.
What can you do to combat this fear? What verses can you memorize to have at your fingertips?
There are things we can do to fight fear. Identifying the fear, the reason for your fear, and steps you can take to combat it, will really help.
Finally, don’t be afraid of fear.
Seriously, it’s called meta fear. We can get ourselves so worked up worrying about impending anxiety or fear that we make it worse. Don’t do that. Learn to handle it when it comes up, but don’t look for it..
Be willing to admit you’re not that perfect Christian who never feels any fear. Everybody does. But not everybody admits it. We are stronger when we know we are weak. Because when we know we are weak, fear being the weakest state of all, if we’re smart, we’ll immediately turn to God for strength. That may mean hiding under his wings for a time but that’s OK. In fact, it’s more than OK. It reduces the cortisol damaging our body and provides some relief. When we are strengthened, then we can meet our fear head-on.
I hope this post helped if you’re a scaredy-cat like me.
God bless and have a good rest of your week.
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