"Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief."
Proverbs 28:14
Fear and happiness don't seem to go together so well. The footnote for this verse tells us that "feareth" means to respect God, which is usually the case with the word fear in the Old Testament, so that is at least better. :) To me though, it makes even more sense if you just take the idea of being sensitive or aware (the opposite of hardening your heart). Sometimes that can make us fearful or stressed, but blocking out all emotion is much worse (no offense to Star Trek of course). Part of the whole purpose of our lives is to learn how to love, God, ourselves, each other... and I think that is what this verse is telling us. Part of love is vulnerability. To feel, we have to know that there is going to be some anxiety management--but feeling is still worth it. :)
It's tempting, when we are feeling negative emotions, to condemn emotion and try to block it out entirely, but today, let's try to open ourselves up, especially to God. Let's allow ourselves some fear and stress, but turn to God so that we can learn faith and trust and confidence--overcoming fear through faith, not through ignoring it or blocking out everything including our self-knowledge. Happiness isn't being dead to feeling, but rather allowing the possibility of good and bad feelings, and then choosing to focus on the good. :) With God's help we can choose happiness rather than mischief. :)
Proverbs 28:14
Fear and happiness don't seem to go together so well. The footnote for this verse tells us that "feareth" means to respect God, which is usually the case with the word fear in the Old Testament, so that is at least better. :) To me though, it makes even more sense if you just take the idea of being sensitive or aware (the opposite of hardening your heart). Sometimes that can make us fearful or stressed, but blocking out all emotion is much worse (no offense to Star Trek of course). Part of the whole purpose of our lives is to learn how to love, God, ourselves, each other... and I think that is what this verse is telling us. Part of love is vulnerability. To feel, we have to know that there is going to be some anxiety management--but feeling is still worth it. :)
It's tempting, when we are feeling negative emotions, to condemn emotion and try to block it out entirely, but today, let's try to open ourselves up, especially to God. Let's allow ourselves some fear and stress, but turn to God so that we can learn faith and trust and confidence--overcoming fear through faith, not through ignoring it or blocking out everything including our self-knowledge. Happiness isn't being dead to feeling, but rather allowing the possibility of good and bad feelings, and then choosing to focus on the good. :) With God's help we can choose happiness rather than mischief. :)
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