How Is Fear Filling Your Life During COVID-19?

Fear.

It’s a big ugly emotion. And a stealthy one.
It’s a master of disguise, masquerading as anger, frustration, bitterness, depression, jealousy, pride, or arrogance.

The first week we were stuck home quarantining over COVID-19, I dealt with fear often. What would this mean for my work? What would this mean for our church? What would this mean for our lives? What if we got sick?

As the two weeks slowly expanded to six, fear came and went. Sometimes it showed up as depression; other times as anger. (Anger can also be a legitimate stage of grief, and sometimes it’s hard to tell if we are in a productive grief stage or an unproductive manifestation of fear.)

One day I remembered that I actually teach a program on fear called Vanquishing the Vampires: Fighting the Fears That Suck the Lifeblood Out of Us. The program looks at The Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm and how they can help us win our battles with fear.

Maybe it was time to speak it to myself. And maybe others would find it helpful too.

So I sat at my desk, pulled out my iPhone, and recorded a short video to kick off the talk. I’ve now recorded four small segments, and there may be more to come. The first one is attached here if you, too, deal with fear.

You’ll find the additional episodes on my YouTube channel. (And for fun you can compare the videos and watch how my hair degrades as time goes on. Imagine what it will look like in another month!)

Quoting the Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm before I fall asleep and again upon awakening helps me sleep more peacefully, resting in the care of my heavenly Father and my good Shepherd.

May you find peace and victory over fear
in these passages as well.