Courage to Confess Fear

I grew up in an era where action movie heroes were popular that featured muscled actors like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger who barged into trouble with guns blazing.  For 90 minutes, viewers were treated to stunts, explosions and cringeworthy puns as the body count rapidly multiplied.  Today the ladies have taken centre stage to fill the role of the tough, death-defying and emotionally impotent heroine who take the lives of human beings and aliens as casually as we take a sip of water.  It is exceedingly rare to see a modern film where action heroes betray a shred of what could be considered fear when there is only a step between them and death.  This could be seen as weakness, and we can't have that!

In Braveheart (a work of fiction loosely based on history), I found it refreshing for the courageous protagonist William Wallace, on the eve of his execution, to be shown on his knees in prayer to God and confessing he was afraid.  He prayed God would give him strength to die honourably without crying out under the pains of torture, for he felt to do so was to admit the wicked, wheezing Longshanks had won.  Previously the film portrayed Wallace many times jumping into the fray, putting himself in harm's way and risking death to secure freedom for himself and fellow Scots one battle at a time.  Though the Hollywood depiction of William Wallace puts the most bold among us to shame, it was humanising for him to be portrayed as vulnerable before the almighty God as he confessed his fear--which is common to all people.  That may be the courageous thing Wallace did in the film.

With wisdom comes grief, and increased knowledge can be accompanied by fear.  Our bodies are wired to respond to fear when we are startled or frightened to flight, fly or freeze.  There is no one who is without fear, and anyone who boldly claims to be fearless is especially suspect.  Fear has countless disguises, cover-ups and names that camouflage it because we are naturally ashamed to be viewed as fearful.  It is a hit to our pride to say we are scared, and we can express fear by laughing as easily as crying.  Fear is a part of our flesh we inhabit, but the Holy Spirit who regenerates Christians fundamentally changes us from within as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:6-7:  "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  God has given us a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind, and His perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18).

As long as we live in a body of corruptible flesh, our experiences and feelings can fall short of the spiritual reality of what Jesus has done for us.  We can be filled with the Holy Spirit and still feel afraid because we are preoccupied and distracted by what is not God.  Even as Timothy needed to be intentional to stir up and use the gifts God had given Him, so we must remind ourselves God has not given us a spirit of fear.  We are no longer slaves to sin, worry and anxiety because we now are in Christ, and we should not allow fear to be a squatter in our lives who robs us of peace.  After speaking of the Comforter He would send, Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:27:  "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  When we realise we are afraid, we ought to take courage in Christ and confess this sin so we might be strengthened to do God's will and abide in His love.