Leaving Fear Behind

Fear convinces us that we must find the deepest, darkest corner and hide there. We may think that if we just stay in that corner long enough, the fear will go away. But this is not true. That's where the fear lives. Fear loves hiding in that deepest, darkest corner and it wants us right there with it because fear is afraid of being alone. We can stay in that corner forever, but the fear will never go away. The only way to be rid of the fear is to pick ourselves up, stand tall, and have the courage to walk away from the corner and leave fear behind. Fear may not always let go easily. Like some watcher in the deep, it may thrust out its tentacles of darkness and try to drag us back. It will beg and cajole and lie and rage and threaten, but it will not leave that corner. The more steps we take to walk away, the less we will feel fear's influence, the less we will believe its lies, the less our vision will be clouded with its darkness. When Joseph Smith went into the Sacred Grove to pray, he was seized and suffocated and choked by the dark forces of fear, but all it took was a simple act of faith, one step to leave the darkness behind and to step into that pillar of light, above the brightness of the sun, and witness God the Father and His Son in all Their glory. I know that it takes only the smallest act of will to leave the corner behind, and although fear convinces us that it is beyond our strength, fear is lying. "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7). When Alma was in the gall of bitterness, all it took was him calling on his Savior to save him, and the darkness and the bitterness, the shame and the fear were banished from Alma's heart. Christ is the embodiment of perfect love, and perfect love casteth fear out. When Peter walked on the water, fear convinced him that the waves were too high and the wind was too boisterous and that he should come hide in the corner until the scary storm blows over. And of course, the moment he joined fear in the corner, he started to sink and to drown. But Peter did not stay in the corner. He immediately reached back out to the Savior and stood right back up and walked on the water once more, leaving fear behind. We can choose to stay in the corner and have fear be our constant companion, or we can leave fear behind and walk with and be with our Savior as our constant companion.