Anxiety Proverbs 1:7

 It was recently explained to me that fear is an emotion brought on by a real threat. “I see a lion outside, I can’t go out”. Anxiety is an emotion brought on by a perceived threat. “There might be a lion outside, I better not go out.” 

I could never understand anxiety until about March of this year. 

People would tell me about their anxiety and panic attacks and I didn’t understand it. “Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but you don’t get anywhere.” You can use all your energy and rock all day but in the end, you’re still in a rocking chair.  

Now I too can relate to having anxiety.

After months of living in “High Alert”. 

But I still haven’t figured out the proper thing to tell someone who tells me they have anxiety. The old cliches don’t fit. “Let go and let God”, “Give it up to the Lord”, “Trust God”. That’s how I USE to answer them and moved on because I couldn’t “identify” with them. They were silly for fearing something that might never happen. They were wasting time. 

Now I understand. Now I can relate. It’s not a good place to be, in constant high alert. But it’s where I’m at. It’s part of what I'm going through. It’s what I’m working on and working through. 

This verse talks about a different kind of fear. I’ve been contemplating “Fear of the Lord” a lot lately. What an odd emotion to describe our respect for God. I want to delve deeper into that but I think I’ve said enough for today. 

Proverbs 1:7 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

In His Name, Cecilia