The root of all fear

            I don't know if any of you have ever heard of Mel Fisher. He and his wife started scuba diving and quickly moved to California and opened the first scuba shop in that state. They did very well, had four children and he and his wife moved to Florida. Mel heard about a Spanish Galleon (ship) that wrecked off the coast of Florida. He had some money, had a boat and they took on charters, bought and sold and they worked, day after day. Week after week, months turned into years. Years into decades. His creed was "Today is the day". He SAW himself finding that Spanish treasure in that wrecked ship called the ATOCHA. It was rumored to have TONS of gold coins, bars, jewelry and that was just the half of it. His crew would get discouraged. It took from 1963 until 1985 to find the Atocha. It was not without trouble, challenge and fear. The Fishers and their team socked all thier money back into their enterprise. They ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The scraped and every free minute was spent searching for that boat. Shortly before the glory of that find, Mel's Son, daughter in law and a hired diver while sleeping lost their lives when their salvage boat capsized in the middle of the night. Ten years later they hit the mother lode. Tons of gold coins, gold bars, jewelry and rare and exquisite emeralds were found. An estimated 400 million dollars in treasure was recovered.
            What does this have to do with the root of all fear? Mel Fisher was a dreamer. He also was a worker. He was a failure for almost thirty years. However, he did NOT FEAR. He knew that he did not understand the unknown. He knew what he was doing was an uncharted land. He knew he didn't know it all. He didn't let his IGNORANCE put him in the choke hold of unrealized fear.
             Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now known as a European banking agent who was a very evil indeed. He knew the stock market was going to crash, he knew the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming, but through these evil acts, he did dish out some truth. He said "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". What was he saying? We let insecurities, low self confidence, anxiety of what will happen in the future if we don't do things exactly right cause fear in ourselves. He was actually poking fun at those who do fear. Its like saying the only sweets we should eat are all sweets.
              There are three statements following and you will notice the difference immediately. There is a "healthy respect" and "False confidence" and then there is "fear". Now, I will give you a few scenarios. Let us say you know you are going to a national park where there are bears. You don't read up on it, you don't gain your best understanding on how to live and stay alive in this environment. You rush in pell mell , set up your tent, cook your beef stew, have some cheese curls, toss it in a bag and retire for the night. You have some chocolate chip cookies for dessert and then fall asleep. Around 2 a.m. you awake to a horrible sound. Its a grizzly bear tearing through your things. You are frozen in fear. The bear smells the cookie bags and enters your tent. You see Jesus after 15 minutes of being mauled to death.
               Scenario number two. You are going to a national park and you know there are two kinds of bear there. Grizzley and Black bears roam the park. You call the park, ask what is the safest structure to sleep in and camp with. They tell you an RV or the park hotel. You can increase your risk by using a tent, but you can minimize that by hanging your food in airtight containers, on a rope, suspended in the air. All other foodstuffs, personally soiled garments need to be put safely away. All garbage is to be burnt or fully buried. You are informed that you are allowed to protect yourself with a sidearm. You can also bring pepper spay or a taser. You like camping, but don't want to incur loads of cost, so you decide to take your .45 Smith and Wesson. You also take spin top plastic buckets that are airtight. You have strong cord to suspend those buckets. You have read up on bear behavior. For two months you prepare, sorting the fluff from the truth. You talk to officers at the park. You are ready. Your third night, you just fall asleep and you hear something outside. You slowly peel the tent flap open and there is old smokey sniffing around your car. He sniffs some more, and then walks off into the night. Your pounding heart slows down and according to the park personel and your research, you go back to bed. You wake up in the morning and you are not in heaven, you are on your air mattress, wiping the sleep out of your eyes. Safe as you were before .
               What is the difference? The first scenario was full of "false confidence" and then "fear". The second scenario was full of "healthy respect". That difference was that even though it was a new venture, one party ignored the risks, they were not prepared for any problems. The second party had a healthy respect for what they were doing and prepared. Read up, talked with experts and understood that even if he left a twinkie out near the extinguished fire pit, he would have been able to pepper spray the bear, or shoot the bear if there was danger.
               With this challenging economy we live in, the world changing into a patently more evil place everyday. We have two options as Christians while looking for a new way to make a living or looking for a new job. Having a healthy respect for your talents and your shortcomings is one way to sharpen your edge. I hate this saying, but you can "choose your battle".  Having a sense of false confidence or being ignorant and blindly walking forward not understanding what your skills and talents are or what your shortcomings are is a good set up to remain locked in fear and doubt.
                 God has called those who call themselves Christians to be "bold". Notice in the New Testament Jesus never said "Be cocky with a puffed up head and rush into new ventures without thinking". The apostle Paul never told us to be haughty or to have a false sense of confidence. We were told by both of them to be bold, trust the Lord and go about your ventures thinking and trusting the Lord to watch over you and help you along the way. Jesus CONSTANTLY said "FEAR NOT", yet we live in fear of so many things. Will I have enough qualifications? What if I fail? I don't know all there is to know about this job, but I have done similar things, will I be able to do it? There is an old axiom about fear. It is called the "paralysis of analysis". Over thinking something you CAN handle. Guess what? you WILL make mistakes in this life. You WILL have challenges. You WILL have trials, tests, hurdles, missteps. Take a lesson from Mel Fisher. He didn't know everything about marine salvage. He was ignorant on how to find sunken treasure. What if Mel Fisher stayed frozen in fear? Let me give you a few more people who have struck out on their own or with a partner with little resources. Nicola Tesla, Bill Gates, Beethoven, Thomas Edison, Carl Breshear, Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, John Deutschendorf Jr. (John Denver), Martin Luther and a host of other bible figures, historical figures and real people that you and I know. I was told personally that I would never get through a bible college and get a bachelor's degree by someone in my church. I struck out, moved 2100 miles away and completed my bachelor's degree at the age of 33 in 2.5 years. I did it. I had some fear, but I knew God had given me talents and skills and that I had been given enough brains to LEARN from mistakes, comprehend difficult concepts if I studied hard enough and that I could accomplish it.
       I would hope you take the advice from someone who is your best friend. I would hope you would read HIS words, take confidence in them and have a healthy respect for your Creator and what HE made when you were born. How many of you have taken on a new venture when you were younger, failed, overcame it and then had success? Plenty of you.
               Quit your DOUBTING. The lord's own brother said "A double  minded man is UNSTABLE in all his ways". A doubting man/woman is a troubling child to the God we serve. He knows you will have doubts, but if fear and doubt are your master, you are slapping God in the face. Shocked? You shouldn't be. When you are promised something with no timeline, you cannot expect the promise to be fulfilled on your timeline. You can expect the one who made the world to fulfill His. Not trusting and filling yourself with doubt is the ROOT of all fear. Remember the old childrens film "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"? Gene Wilder has a line in that movie that says "Oh, you should never, never doubt what you're not sure about". God works totally different than we think. HE KEEPS HIS PROMISES. They are not going to be on your schedule. That means you MUST trust. Every time you doubt you are taking away the power that is availble to you. Removing fear has two components, trusting and waiting. I am stuck waiting for a wonderful blessing. I live in joy while I wait. I see the outcome. Will I make mistakes along the way, you betcha! I will NOT however give into the fear. I will trust and I will wait and HE WILL keep His promise, I promise.