It's OK to Be Afraid

This time of year the nights come early and stay long.  I love autumn and the colors and cool crisp air that it brings.  If there is a down side to this time of year, it is the fact that the days are short.  Driving home tonight, my wife and I were talking about how dark it was for how early it was.

This is also the time of year, as a child, that can seem somewhat scary.  And it's not just the long nights that gets kids stirred up.  It can be scary taking out the garbage in the dark, or simply walking to the car after a meal after the sun goes down.  Who can forget all of the scary feelings and thoughts that haunted houses and Halloween used to bring as a child at this time of year?

As adults we tell the children that it will be alright.  That they have nothing to fear.  But, deep inside,  I think as adults we are all a little afraid at times too.  Maybe we're not afraid of haunted houses and Halloween anymore, but other things take their places as we get older.  It's common to be afraid of love, or lack of it. Afraid of endings.  Afraid of the future and how we can make it through.  Afraid of not being able to provide for our family.  Ultimately, we might be afraid to die.

And really I think it is OK to be afraid.  I think it's how God made us.  As our hearts race a little and our palms get a little sweaty, at some critical juncture, you have to make a decision as to whether you are going to face your fears and slay your dragons, or whether you will let the fear paralyze you like it did as a child when visiting the haunted houses at Halloween.

As kids we always made it out of the haunted houses.  No one died.  Yes, we were terrified, and sometimes paralyzed with fear, but we kept moving and kept conquering our fears one step at a time, one scary turn at a time, and eventually we got to the end and "escaped" through the door. 

I think the same lessons apply to us now as adults when facing our fears.