The following is Scripture. “God has not given us a spirit of timidity and fear, but a Spirit of power, love and self-control.” I think it’s somewhere in 2 Timothy.

I don’t know one human being who is not beset with fear. I’d argue he or she is lying if they said they don’t struggle with fear. I think part of me blames fear for not writing here since last September. I can’t diagram it sufficiently enough to lay out the evidence, but when I read that post the thought ruminated through my head that defined fear as the underlying culprit for a dry “pen.” Ignorance fuels fear. I’m not saying you have to attain Einstein level intelligence. God knows I’m not that smart, but when you feed your mind good things or things from history that teach you, ignorance and fear are removed. Distance from rejection and pain also have to be achieved because pain is a strong blinder to truth. Life is never painless, and again, if someone says it is they’re selling something. My friend Amy battles PTSD. It’s no secret either that this platform is honest about my struggle with depression. You cannot face down fear without acknowledging the other factors such as those that make fear chronic.

Jesus never required someone to get right before they came to him. He still doesn’t. Supernatural power is beyond our own ability to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps. What’s one of the 12 Steps? Admit you are powerless because you are. Addiction to fear is part of our broken world. Sometimes you cope with it hour by hour. Forget about the whole week.

Be patient with yourself. That sounds so cliche, but it’s true. If you need a glass of wine drink it, but if you’re a recovering alcoholic you might just need to walk back and forth in your apartment. Listen to some relaxing music, or listen to heavy metal. Fear is a funny bedfellow, and never let anyone tell you counseling is a joke because it isn’t. Counseling will give you tools to fight fear, and if the counselor is a Christian counselor he or she will likely pray for you apart from counseling sessions. You don’t have to battle fear alone. Fear drives us to isolation, but know you have angels who attend to you in isolation because even if you’re in a church sanctuary surrounded by hundreds of other believers you can feel alone. Angels are there too.

Light overshadows the darkness, and it always will.