Fear of the Known

Often when we’re nervous about doing something, we say—or others say to us—"that’s just the fear of the unknown." And it’s true. When we’ve never done a certain thing, there is a level of uncertainty and therefore fear attached to it. But I have concluded that there is something that is possibly even worse than the fear of the unknown, and I will call it (I’m so creative!) "fear of the known."

Fear of the known is all about what we have learned. We walked past a yard with a big dog in it, and we got bit. We "learned" that big dogs bite, and that the bite of big dogs hurts. We "learned" not to walk past yards with big dogs in them. We asked someone for help. They turned us down cold. We "learned" that it is painful to ask for help; we "learned" to not ask for help. We embarked on a risky venture, and fell flat on our face. We "learned" to not venture into uncertain territory.

Are you with me?

There is a very big problem with what we have learned: it isn’t all correct. Most of you know that there is no particular danger in walking past a yard that contains a big dog, because most of you know that most big dogs are perfectly harmless. There are others, however, who have indeed "learned" that big dogs are dangerous. They have a fear, not of the unknown, but of the known. They remember what that bite felt like. They don’t want it to happen again. The fear of the thing that they know now controls them in certain situations. They are not free to obey God.

This is the real danger of fear—both of the known and of the unknown. We succeed in life not because of what we have learned, but because of our obedience to God. If He tells us to do such and so, and we do it, we will have made progress and experienced a certain level of success. For the most part, we understand that … but what if He’s telling us to do something we’ve already "learned" to not do? Will we still obey Him then? Will our "learning" hinder us from experiencing the success that God desires for us?

For the past few days, I’ve been fighting with myself and with God a little bit about growth in my business. Understand, I want growth. I don’t need growth, because what I have is sufficient for me; but I want it. There are, however, a few things I need to buy before tax season begins if I expect growth to take place this year. I have the money available.

But I’ve prepared for growth before, and it hasn’t happened. I have "learned" that it is pointless and painfully disappointing to prepare for growth.

Could it really be God, telling me to do something I’ve already "learned" to not do?

It could be, and probably is.

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