Something interesting I once thought about was that fear is an incentive; a prerogative for the daring. Without it, we aren’t driven by an alternative–a future crippled by our inhibition to act. In this vein of thought I began to see fear as a good thing, an unusual mannerism of our humanity which offers us self-correction and a potential for change. Many associate fear with pain, as if the two were endemically synonymous or words that were inevitably successive. However, it seems to me that this a premature categorization that is only true for the lackadaisical. Imagine for a moment that you were caught in a home being engulfed in flames. As the sirens went off around you, fear quickly warns you of the impending danger and the need for escape. Presently, fear and pain are not only mutually exclusive but completely antithetical responses. For the duty of fear is to alert you of the potential for pain. So in a way of thinking fear is your ally in crisis, leading you away from harm and towards safety. Therefore, fear is appropriate when it is consulted before action.

Now it is worth recognizing that fear may also be used inappropriately, driving a severance between reason and action to the disadvantage of the mind. Many have experienced the disarming effect that panic or anxiety has played on them. These emotions usually tend to accelerate, growing worse from an original source of fear. Anxiety breaks a person apart, causing them to entertain a darkness not intended for them by the Creator. This is, in a word, illness; or more poignantly–pain.What then becomes the lifelong mistake of anxiety is to thoroughly synonymize the instincts of fear and pain. Pain taken correctly is not an end but a means. Take butter for example. By itself, the condiment offers no real intrinsic flavor or meaning. In fact, if one consumed only butter he would be in for one rude awakening and a less than amiable visit to the doctor. Instead, butter must be used as a partner condiment, adding dimension to one’s meal as a spread or ingredient. Fear taken by itself is the same, not only tasteless but dangerous. However, if it used together with proactivity the fear becomes an advantageous stimulant, offering reverence to the object of its focus. This way we see that fear was meant to be experienced but never lived for, to do so would be a holy injustice to the way it was created.

This leads into the intention of fear. It is my belief that fear is a designed virtue, much like respect and hope. Pain on the other hand is not. Fear can be considered prelapsarian; pain on the other hand is a response to our sin and a symptom of loss. Since we can conclude there is a categorical difference between these terms, fear must be socially redefined. For fear alone can drive someone to pain, but used as a tool it is effectively an instrument of God. This is why God commands us to choose fear correctly (Deut. 6:24, Ps. 112:2, Prov. 12:23). With this instruction, fear must be seen as a divine gift, a virtue designed to be honed and exercised with Heavenly approbation.
However, in the pervasive language of modern society fear carries a derogatory definition of negativity. Perhaps this is a product of the difference between Heaven and Earth, a distinction between distorted illusion and Divine eyes. The God-given principal of fear is to illuminate change and inspire a more accurate field of focus. But in the world’s vision fear is but a weakness, a characteristic of the ‘fitless.’ To be strong is to accentuate independence from fear and dominance over self. Like Icarus, the world removes respect from fear and flies too far without heed to its warnings. This temptation is endemic to our need for approval and self-reliance. Defined by tradition, fear necessitates interdependence, trust, and caution, the very fabric of the needy. The world advises something different; freedom, internality, and the promise of the self-made dream. These polars fight at the crossroads of fear because fear means the destruction of pride and the priority of community. Fear appraises challenge and demands a solution. In fact, no positive change exists without fear at its root. The origin of social reform is not hope, parenthood is not success, and every strategy of pacifism in place of war is not ingenuity. Instead, reform, success, and ingenuity are products of appropriate responses to fear. On its own, fear is a means to complacency; guiding people, groups, and nations into anxiety and panic. However, partnered with proactive reverence and a clear vision of its object, individuals can use fear as a stimulus for change. God did not design fear for late nights of worry sitting up in your room thinking of the million different ways you may die or be hurt. Instead he designed it to be medicine, a preventative treatment against the human tendency to wait and put up with the flaws set before us. God may open doors for us which we may find too intimidating to enter. If we stay waiting we may never experience life on the other side of His plan. However, in accordance with His mercy we are presented with this unusual gift. It may be introduced as a push or sometimes a pointed needle in the back, but fear pushes us to act. Unfortunately (or perhaps thankfully), we are entrusted with the task of applying our fear to life either appropriately or not. To be used well, in effect, is God’s method for accomplishing good. Although it may be difficult to identify the right response to fear, it is important to challenge our interpretation of its role in our life. As we remove it from our self-prescribed panel of illnesses to a new place of respect, we begin to see that this primordial gift of light is a prompting, continually pushing us towards God’s awaiting future.