When fear breaks in

There is so much in this life that could be said when starting off with a title like this one, isn’t there? I’m sure you could think of at least one scenario in your own life in which this simple phrase has been true, if not multiple times. Life is hard when fear is always lurking just around the corner, and when you feel like no one ‘has your back,’ so to speak, that’s when fear breaks in.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in multiple break-ins by fear in every sector of life. In my workplace, fear held sway when the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were made available, and less than 50 percent of my coworkers took advantage of the opportunity to take the shots. Many were afraid of the health consequences of getting vaccinated; too few were concerned about the results of not become vaccinated. Now, we’re paying the price of their fears, as we are being required to wear painfully restrictive masks all day during our shifts to prevent one another from inadvertently spreading the virus to one another, vaccinated or not. In fact, 24 hours before the new policy was enacted, a staffer was diagnosed with the virus; because of the close proximity of other personnel, several of them have to be out of work, too. Fear broke into our workplace, leading to fewer than necessary becoming vaccinated, and creating additional health issues for the rest of us.

However, fear-driven selfishness is not limited to otherwise hardworking, generous adults (I call them this because most of these colleagues go above and beyond the call of their duties every day to meet the needs of our clientele, and I am honored to work among them). The clientele are with us because they are not known for pro-social behavior and attitudes. Even with all attempts made to teach, coach, cajole, and guide them into better understanding of expected behaviors and demeanors for life reintegrated with society, most remain intransigent, stuck in their ways, selfish at heart. And the more fearful they become at the prospect of leaving our facility for another one where they may not feel as secure for one reason or another, the greater the break-in will be of that fear–a home invasion of fear, if you will.

During the height of the pandemic in 2020, virtually no clients moved anywhere. All facilities statewide kept their clients to themselves. When moves were needed, extreme health precautions were taken at the sending and receiving ends, and transfers were kept to an absolute minimum. Since the arrival of vaccinations, transitions have become more frequent, as the clientele complete programming in one place and move to the next for their successive stages of development. As always, there will be the occasional client in the community that makes a nuisance of himself to the point that a change of scenery is sought for him, hoping that new faces and spaces will result in greater cooperation on his part. It often works.

Again, though, fear can play a role in such transitions for some clients. Some of my (recently) former students left recently for new facilities. They had made great strides in their development, but they had also failed to help themselves and had made nuisances of themselves. The last part earned them one-way tickets out of here. Another former student–one that I’d known when I first started here many years ago–also left. Several other clients went, too, but those three had been my students, so I felt their connection more keenly than the others. Still, the fear broke in on a client that was so afraid of what might happen to him at his destination that he made an (unsuccessful) attempt on his life. The fear of man is terrible. It cripples the mind and the will to live freely. It blinds the sight of the wise and renders them foolish.

I received word today about a friend named Ann. Ann was a delightful sister in the Lord. She battled cancer in recent years, but it wasn’t the cancer that took her life. The Lord took her home a couple of days ago. When cancer came, I’m sure Ann and her husband Rick experienced fear. I know for a fact that they experienced God’s grace and mercy. When fear broke in, they took it to God in prayer. Today, we pray for Rick and his family, their friends, and their church. Fear will not break in; the LORD is their salvation.

Psalm 27:1 says (ESV):

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold^[a] of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?

When fear breaks in, will it overcome you? Or will you take it to God?