Fear can be Paralyzing but it Shouldn't Be

My son was bitten by my cousin's two dogs. They were playing, not attacking him. This happened a few years ago. He is still afraid of dogs. Counseling hasn't worked. Being around friendly dogs hasn't worked. Discussing the many dogs in the streets of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, hasn't worked. Nothing seems to work.

I think the only thing that I can do is to tell him that he has to conquer how he is going to react to what he is afraid of. We recently moved onto a street that didn't seem to have any dogs at all, but I found out later that this is because they were lying down to beat the heat of the day. They seem like a pack. I found out later they're just really hungry, and hopeful hat anyone walking around has a treat. Sometimes, I do, so now they 'like' me, and trust me enough to come up to me when I'm dumping leftovers into the tall grass.

Just like his fear can make him not want to go anywhere, or to freeze up, or even to get completely hysterical on me, my fears can make me want to just not move, to curl up into a ball. My fears are completely different, though. They involve where the world is headed, the unknown, not something that has happened to me in the past that might happen to me again.

God doesn't want us to be controlled by our fears, so we need to be aware of how our fears affect our behavior. I have often told my children hat panic kills. It does. It can kill people physically, and it can kill opportunities, chances, ambition, and so many other things. It can also kill faith in God.

God doesn't want to know who says they will be faithful and listen to and obey what is in the Bible, He wants to know who will actually do what it says.

One of the commands in the Bible is to not be afraid, including at the end, which it seems we are in. People hve claimed this over the years, I know, and many are claiming it now, but I think there will be a lull, a time where everything seems to be going smoothly, where what was almost war now seems to be peaceful, friendships being made between countries, and the people of the world feeling a renewed sense of generosity toward others.

nyway, hat I wanted to impart is that even when you are afraid, you need to act. You need to move forward with what your intentions were before you became afraid. Otherwise, you are giving in. Fear is a tool used widely by Satan. Don't let him be successful.