Are you experiencing any of these things? Fear, anxiety attacks, depression, are common maladies in our world. We are supposed to be on top of things all the time, but the reality is that most of us fight fear, worry and depression. We need all the help we can get to battle an attitude of fear.

How do you deal with your fears? St. Paul addresses this problem with the promises of Romans 8 - the hope chapter of the Bible.

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father'." (Romans 8:15, NIV) "Nor are you meant to relapse into the old slavish attitude of fear-you have been adopted into the very family circle of God and you can say with a full heart, 'Father, my Father.'" (Phillips) "And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God's very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to him, 'Father, Father.'" (LB)

Before faith in Christ, we were subject to slavery to fear. We feared death, we feared judgment, we feared suffering, we feared guilt, we feared the bad opinion of others, we feared failure, we feared rejection. When we met Christ we heard him say: "Fear not." He conquered fear with imperturbable faith. (cf. The Miracle of the Stilling of the Storm - Mark 4:35-39). The message of the angels at Bethlehem and at the Empty Tomb was: "Fear Not." The vision of Christ to John in Revelation 1:17 is "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

To be enslaved to something is to be controlled by it. When fear takes over we are paralyzed. Paul tells us that we received from God, not a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of Sonship. Instead of being controlled by a spirit of fear, we are meant to be liberated by the Spirit of Sonship. Because of what Christ has done on our behalf on the Cross, we are freed from fear to enjoy life in a personal, loving, intimate relationship with God our Father, Abba. The term Paul used, Abba, is familiar. It is a child's word for his father. It is the word Jesus used in the garden of Gethsemane. "Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36) He trusted in his Father to do what was best. He accepted what had to be. He surrendered to his Father's will because he knew his Father loved him and would only do what was best.

This is not a purely intellectual assent to the truth of our relationship with God. The Spirit whom we receive, when we receive Christ into our lives, warms our hearts, our affections, for God. By this Spirit of sonship we cry, "Abba, Father.' 'Cry' denotes strong emotion. It expresses fervency, earnestness, importunity. It signifies a real knowledge and intimate relationship with God. It is a cry expecting a response. It is a call for help from One whom we can rely upon to answer. It is not an academic exercise of contacting a distant and aloof God. This is a communication with someone we know.

This relationship with the Father is made possible by Jesus. It is Jesus who makes God known to us in this intimate way. It is Jesus who breaks down the barrier of sin between ourselves and God. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, "No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) We only know God in this intimate way through how Jesus modeled his own relationship with his Father.

The uniqueness of Christianity is that it proclaims a personal relationship with God. To know that God is your loving, heavenly Father, and that you can cry out to him for help when a spirit of fear attempts to enslave you, is to realize that you have received the Spirit of Sonship. Our heavenly Father can break the power of the spirit of fear if we are able to trust in him, and to surrender to him, as Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane, or in the boat on the lake. Yet, even devout Christians can go through periods of fear and depression.

William Cowper, the author of many hymns and a noted poet in the 18th century was depressed first at the age of 21, and from time to time thereafter for the next ten years. At 31 he had his first catastrophic psychotic breakdown, and at the time of his recovery he committed his life to Christ. He was to have four more depressive illnesses before he died at 68. In between these times he was amazingly productive as a letter-writer and a poet.

He had terrible dreams and hallucinations. In the middle of these nocturnal terrors he came to the insane conclusion that God had commanded him to take his own life. His attempted suicide failed and he descended into a downward spiral of tragic depression and despair. He eventually improved but remained a recluse, rarely venturing into society. Yet, despite his illness, he settled down to a calm and contented routine of reading, writing, and gardening. Some of his most famous poetry was produced in his later life. In 1773 he wrote a hymn that expressed the challenge of how to understand times of hardship, fear and anxiety.

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;

He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines Of never-failing skill

He treasures up his bright designs, And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace;

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain;

God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain.

When we don't know why we are going through a hard time, and we are discouraged, anxious and fearful, Cowper, out of his own painful experience, believed that God was working out his mysterious purpose. He uses the storms of life, the clouds and darkness, to eventually bless us. We cannot see what God is doing in our circumstances. We must trust God for his grace and that one day he will make it all plain to us. In the meantime he gives us real hope through the promises of Romans 8:15 -

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father'."

"Nor are you meant to relapse into the old slavish attitude of fear-you have been adopted into the very family circle of God and you can say with a full heart, 'Father, my Father.'" (Phillips)

"And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God's very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to him, 'Father, Father.'" (LB)

END