fear

Fear is one of those odd sorts of things which rears its head in many different ways. Anger often masks fear as does over-confidence and joking around. Sometimes we all know that people who are apparently grumpy are just protecting themselves...perhaps they have been hurt in the past and are afraid of putting themselves into a vulnerable position again.

Fear is something which we will probably all experience and whilst it is true that the love of God does cast out all fear there are plenty of times when feeling that is very hard.

Dealing with fear, our own and other peoples takes a great deal of resolve and patience. Many people are afraid of very real things....illness, unemployment, disasters or death. All of these things may ring bells us as things we would rather not think about and so we back off and avoid the conversation.

But although love can reach into dark corners we will find it more readily if we are willing to admit that something is scaring us instead of allowing it to fester.....when we say....yes that scares me too we are not trying to come up with an answer so much as we are simply sharing our humaniy and in a Christlike way coming alongside another honestly and openly. In this openness we will find that perfect love of God shining brightly and telling us honestly not to be afraid.