How Do You Find Freedom From Fear?

How Do You Find Freedom from Fear?

Fear often defies rational explanation. And yet, many people still suffer from it and are working to overcome it. There is something built into us that wants to be free of the grinding limitation of chronic fear and the negative impact it has on health.

Let’s take fear of flying. In today’s world this fear could be really limiting. Estimates are that up to 25% of the population of the United States have some form of anxiety about flying and that 20.0 million Americans have severe fear related to flying. According to those trying to understand and help others combat this fear, there are a wide range of underlying anxieties that need to be dealt with, including a feeling of powerlessness, a feeling of being trapped, and fear of accident.

Here is something that helped me when - out of the blue - I began to fear flying at a time in my life when I had to do quite a bit of it. I needed to fly regularly to get my family with young kids to see my parents 1500 miles away. I had clients requiring me to fly with them to visit their plants or potential acquisitions. I often found myself facing the near panic of getting on that next plane, holding on mentally till the flight was over and then dreading the return flight ahead.

I needed help, and I wasn’t finding it through toughing it out or rational reasoning over how safe flying was as compared to driving. So, I began to pray. You might ask “why prayer?” Because, I’ve often found solutions to life’s challenges through turning to God. My prayer time often includes reading the Bible to see what stories of triumph or messages of comfort I might find. For example, what enabled the Apostle Paul to write (as found in the Book of Romans in the Bible) when facing tribulation, distress, peril, and other fearful events that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

As a result of my prayer concerning this fear of flying I gained a broader view of “him that loved us.” The fear began to wane over a period of time until an inspiring and clear message came to me on one flight, and then the fear disappeared completely. Here’s how it happened.

On one early morning departure in the winter, the sunrise, as we were climbing coming through a smattering of clouds, was just spectacular over the snow covered landscape. I focused on this beauty instead of the fact that I was in a plane, strapped and wedged into my seat. I felt the fear lessen in the face of beauty during that trip. Then I had a flight where I had to talk with my clients regarding the purpose of the trip and the plan for the plant tour we were going to take when we landed. My fear was largely gone while I focused on helping my client.

Shortly after that second trip, during some prayer time, I reflected on those two flights. I could see that focusing on the beauty of the sky or working unselfishly to help a client were not just mind games to divert my thought from fear. Rather, they were helping me feel closer to God and that replaced the fear. If you attribute loveliness and beauty to a divine source then you feel more of the presence of the Divine. If you recognize working unselfishly to help others as an activity that is animated by a divine source, then you are more aware of God’s presence. Its hard to feel fearful when we feel close to God.

Finally, on the next plane trip, my client chartered a small twin-engine plane holding 6. Since there were 7 of us, I was selected to ride as the co-pilot in the front cockpit. This wasn’t good I thought. But when we took off into the early morning summer sky from the cockpit, we could see the sun reflecting off a large lake some miles away, and it was so beautiful. Suddenly, I had a flash of inspiration that said I had nothing to fear. I felt I was in the presence of infinite good and beauty and loveliness, and nothing could hurt me in that presence.

This new awareness was perhaps what the Psalmist meant when he answered his own question in Psalm 139: “whither shall I flee from thy presence?” with “ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:… Even there shall thy hand lead me, and they right hand shall hold me.” Christian healer Mary Baker Eddy put it this way; “The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space. That is enough!”

And that insight was enough. In the 20 years since then I have flown to Europe and Africa a number of times as well as across the US repeatedly. I have spent many hours in a small, single engine plane. All with freedom. Becoming more aware of the divine presence is something each of us can do. It’s guaranteed to reduce your fears, whatever they are.