Fearing Fear

Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his first inaugural address, said: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Some point out that Sir Francis Bacon said it more than 300 years earlier: "Nothing is terrible except fear itself." Some think Roosevelt's words to be inspirational, others daft. However, it was surely the Bible which said it first: "Do not be afraid of sudden fear" (Proverbs 3:25). The difference between Roosevelt, Bacon, and the Bible, though, is that the Bible grounds the saying in a living relationship with God -- and an "interventionist God", to use a theological term. "Do not be afraid of sudden fear, nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught."