The Darkness of Fear
By fear, I should be clear, what
we are and are not talking about. We
speak, for example of the gift of the Holy Spirit called ‘Fear of the Lord.’ In this context, we are talking about having
a proper respect for God; that we have a realization that God is God and we are
not. It is a humble recognizing of God’s
dominion over us. By extension, we talk
about such fear in regards to respecting truth.
For example, a fear of handling rattle snakes is good if one understands
the danger they pose and that there is a right way to deal with them. However, some fears fit more into the realm
of terror or wariness of the unknown. It
is this definition that is appropriate to talking about how the devil uses fear
to manipulate us and coerce us into sin.
Something innate in humanity is a fear of darkness. Darkness makes us vulnerable to unseen forces
and obstacles, be it the coffee table or a predator. It is hard to make sound decisions when our
senses are obstructed.
There is a reason why we refer
to the devil as the Prince of Darkness.
He is the father of fear. His modus
operandi is fear. He feared the creation
of humanity as a diminishment of his own creation. His fear led to resentment. His resentment led to rebellion. His fear created pride, a response to his
fear: “I must be better than man, for if I am not, I must be inferior.” The Devil is like many other entities; what
motivates him is how he motivates others.
In the Garden of Eden, the Devil
first appeals to fear to manipulate Adam and Eve. “Did God really tell you not to eat of the
trees of the garden?” He gets them to
doubt that God does not love them and is withholding the knowledge of good and
evil because He doesn’t want them to be gods. Notice after the fall that the first thing we see Adam and Eve feel is fear; they
hide themselves from God. To act in fear
gives a sense of shame. They admit to
their fear. That fear creates a rift
between God and them. The resulting sin
leaves a two-fold hole in them: they lose the grace that united them to God
(sanctifying grace) and now must
struggle against the disposition to sin (concupiscence) until they are called
from this life.
Fear still remains a lethal
weapon of the devil. Fear is a powerful
motivator. Fear can keep our mouth
silent when we should speak. Fear can
lead us to sin as a matter of perceived self-preservation. Sin can keep us from pursuing God’s will,
especially if that will leads to priesthood or religious life. Fear is a fuel for selfishness, which is
essentially the heart of all sin.
The Path of Fear
Fear is potent when it comes to
what we call sins of omission. When we
fail to act in such a way as to address the needs of others, it leads to injustice. Fear can paralyze us into thinking that if I
give to you, I will do without. If I
give to God, it will result in my destruction.
If I stop and help a person in need, whether they deserve it or not,
then it will adversely affect me. I
might get taken advantage of. I might
get played. I might get conned.
I am not saying some fears are
without merit. Giving of the self does
demand that we have the willingness to risk being taking advantage of. Forgiving a person who hurt us does leave us
vulnerable to be hurt again. However,
refusing to take these risks to show mercy and forgiveness, because we fear,
only results in poisoning of the soul who carries it. It embitters the soul. Fear is a poison that grows stronger the
longer it is allowed to persist in the soul.
It isolates the individual because it cuts off the ability to build
healthy and truthful relationships.
Life is difficult and fraught
with events and people that might well tempt us to fear. God knows this. What is His answer? Simply put, we are told 365 times in the
Sacred Scriptures to not be afraid. As
with all things dealing with God, He does not tell us something and then not
give us what is necessary to carry out His requests.
The Cure to Fear
In Exodus 14, the people of
Israel find themselves hemmed in by the Red Sea and the full power of Pharaoh’s
Chariots. It would be natural to be
deeply in fear. They cry out in that
fear to God and Moses. God responds
through Moses, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance The Lord
will accomplish for you this day! (Exodus 14:13) In this verse, the Lord asks
for three things. First: Do not be afraid. Second: Stand firm. Third: See the
deliverance.
Do not be afraid. This would seem a tall order for the
Children of Israel, no? In the face of
what seems certain death, God tells them to not be afraid. He is asking them to trust his providence for
them. Adam and Eve fell because they
failed to trust in God’s providence for them.
A failure to trust God’s
providence is to doubt the love of God itself.
The first tool to combatting fear is to trust in God’s providence for us
and that no matter what transpires, God is there with us to help us
through. When we cut the devil at the
knees by believing in God’s love for us, it is easier to progress in faith.
Stand Firm. God asks for the
people of Israel to be brave. They are
to stand their ground, physically, mentally, and spiritually. They are to not cower. This is a call to the spiritual gift and
cardinal virtue of Fortitude. Fortitude
is what drives men and women living in lands where persecution takes place to
practice their faith anyway. Fortitude
is what spurs us to take the chance to risk speaking and acting when we
should. It gives us the ability to rise
above fear and act with forgiveness and compassion; risking that we might well
be burned again. When we stand firm in
fortitude, we withstand the call to weakness the devil tempts us to.
See the Deliverance. This
is a call to faith. It is the resolve
Jesus asks of Peter in Luke5:10 when Peter becomes aware of his own sinfulness
in the presence of Jesus after the miraculous catch of fish. “Do not be afraid,
from now on you will be catching men.”
No victory is ever won by running away. Peter would indeed catch men as
Jesus said. The people of Israel would
see the Egyptians defeated. Even the
martyrs did not see defeat; for they have witnessed the faith for which they
gave their lives grow beyond their wildest expectation. Faith in God flows from love of God. St. John tells us, “Perfect love casts out
all fear.” (I John 4:18).
The armaments and armor we are
given to fend off fear and repent of our fall to fear are faith, trust, fortitude
and love. These God gives us to win
against the devil. We must use them.
Very useful
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