Blue Water Healthy Living Archives
Faith

The Bible According to Gump: Fear

By Michael L. Ritchie D.C.

Part 8 – When I am afraid, I look up

The scene opens with Forrest at Jenny’s side taking care of her. Jenny and little Forrest had moved in with Forrest due to what was likely “AIDS” and Jenny was asking Forrest about Vietnam.

Jenny: Were you scared in Vietnam?

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Forrest: Yes. Well, I-I don’t know. Sometimes it would stop raining long enough for the stars to come out and it would be nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed on the bayou. There were a million sparkles on the water. like that mountain lake. It was so clear, Jenny, it looked like there were two skies one on top of the other. And then in the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn’t tell where heaven stopped and the earth began, I was so beautiful!

Jenny: I wish I could have been with you.

It is a human trait to fear. Ever since Man disobeyed God in the garden, we have acquired two things. The first is Fear and the second is shame.

Here are the top ten social fears that we struggle with, according to one news reporter, Allyson Horn.

  1. Agoraphobia: fear of open spaces
  2. Acrophobia: fear of heights
  3. Pteromehanophobia: fear of flying
  4. Claustrophobia: fear of closed spaces
  5. Entomophobia: fear of insects
  6. Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes (I hate bats flying over my head)
  7. Cynophobia: fear of dogs
  8. Astraphobia: fear of storms
  9. Trypanophobia: fear of needles
  10. Social Phobias: Fear of being around people

I am sure if we didn’t live in such a wealthy society, we may behave very differently. In some cultures, the biggest fear may be “How am I going to feed my family?”

There is good fear and bad fear. Bad fear seems to stem from not understanding that God loves us and has good things planned for us. Fear is just a “Faith Deficiency”. Without faith, no one will see God.

The word fear appears in the Bible 501 times and 170 times the bible tells us not to fear. People cope with this emotion differently.

A friend of mine told of a time when he was in Vietnam that the Lord asked him if he wanted to go to heaven now or later. He told God that he would like to live. Just then shots rang out and people all around him were killed or wounded and he was untouched. Reflecting on that incident he said, ”after that day I was never afraid to die again.”

Worry is often associated with fear and that is discouraged in the scriptures as well.

Leo Buscaglia puts it this way. “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.”

Ninety-nine times out of 100, the things we worry about or are afraid of turn out to be nothing. Fear and worry are not the way for the Christian. What makes the Christian any better than anyone else? Nothing. It is the one who promises to look out for us that makes the difference. The Psalmist said the following:

Psalm 121

We lift our eyes up to the hills.
From where does our help come?
Our help comes from the Unseen One,
The Maker of the heavens and the earth,
Who will not cause our feet to stumble,
Our protector who never sleeps.
The Abundant One preserves us,
The Watchful One is our shelter and support.
The Vigilant One guards us from evil,
And keeps our Life-breath safe.
The Shepherd guards our going out
and out coming in from now unto eternity.

The good kind of fear is a reverential fear. I have a friend, Monty Browning, who is a big game hunter. Monty has shot dangerous game animals like brown bear, water, and cape buffalo with his 90 Lbs. longbow at distances of 5-15 yards. He said the only thing that he fears is “sinning against God. That scares me to death.”

Two boys were hanging around together and one was trying to dare the other into doing something both knew was wrong. “I’m not afraid what my dad will do if I get caught doing this. I am afraid of what it will do to my dad if he finds out what I did.” We should love God so much and others that it should motivate us to be afraid to hurt them.  

Forrest derived great comfort by looking up and knowing the Creator of everything knew his name. We can rest assured that the one who knows when a sparrow falls from the sky and knows the very number of hairs on our head has our back. Look up to him as the source of help.


When concerns of this life
Trouble my mind
I will trust you, Lord
One day at a time
Will remember your word
My father above
Rely on your promises
Will trust in your love
Prayer conquers worry
It’s faith over fear
Will look to the heavens
And know you are near

Michael L. Ritchie D.C. 6/14/2019


Will you live in Fear or Faith?

False

Evidence

Appearing

Real.

OR

Forsaking

All

I

Trust

Him!


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