Freedom from Fear

The story is told of a spy who had been “captured and sentenced to death by a general in the Persian army. This general had the strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad and ‘the big, black door.’” When the moment for the execution drew near, the general asked the spy, “What will it be, the firing squad or ‘the big black door?’ The spy hesitated for a long time. Finally he chose the firing squad. A few minutes later, hearing shots ring out confirming the spy’s execution, the general turned to his aide and said, ‘They always prefer the known to the unknown. People fear what they don’t know. Yet, we gave him a choice.’ ‘What lies beyond the big door?’ asked the aide. ‘Freedom,’ replied the general. ‘I’ve known only a few brave enough to take that door.’”

It was the late American President, Franklin Roosevelt (pictured with his wife, Eleanor, above), who said at the height of the 1930s Depression, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” for fear “paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Often it is the fear of the unknown that keeps us from passing through the many doors of opportunity that life offers to us. This is why fear itself is the enemy, not the actual events or situations that rise to challenge us. The apostle Paul said, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7, NLT). The Amplified Version adds to this verse that the Lord has given us “a spirit…of calm and well-balanced mind…and self-control”

Fear keeps us from moving into all that God has for us, and it keeps us from risking our lives for the sake of someone else. This is why we must always remember that the Scriptures clearly teach, “There is no fear in love. But perfect loves drives out fear” (1 Jn. 4:18, NIV). Therefore, let us refuse to let fear keep us from all that God intends for our lives in this very exciting time in which we live. Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, sums this thought up when she said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”