With all the uneasiness and fear going on lately, I suppose it’s time to talk about it. We know there are two kinds of fear: the healthy kind and the unhealthy kind.
Unhealthy fear is the kind that makes us think and believe the worst, hampering or crippling our ability to make decisions and move forward. Sometimes it freezes us in place. Sometimes it causes us to run the wrong way. Sometimes it causes us to flail about, physically or metaphorically, causing damage and possibly more panic around us.
Healthy fear is the kind that keeps you safe. If you didn’t fear an oncoming train while you’re on the tracks or sticking a fork in an electrical outlet, you wouldn’t be very safe. If you didn’t fear crashing your car while driving, you wouldn’t pay as close attention and no one else would be safe either.
Both kinds of fear affect not just you but the people around you, as we can see every day. It’s important to know the difference between healthy and unhealthy fear, and God gives us discernment for both, encouraging the healthy and casting out the unhealthy.
Feel free to read more: Worst Fears, Don’t Fear; Do Remember, Fear, Worry, and Trust