the Empathy List #47: Fear is not the bad guy.

What can we learn from our fear?

Hello, friend. Liz, here.

This week, a dear friend told me to sit in my fear.

I’ve been struggling through my own feelings about church and authority and submission for many years now. And I admit that this season—with the voices of extremist christian leaders magnified—has heightened that exploration for me.

I’ve been afraid about many, many things: COVID, the insurrection at the capital, the way the insurrection seems to intersect with Christianity …not to mention all the personal fears that dog me.

Actually, as I confided all my thoughts to my friend, her advice was more pointed: sit in your fear with Jesus.

We often feel that Jesus only wants the best parts of us. But Jeremiah has been called the weeping prophet, several prophets told God they wanted to die TO GOD’S FACE, and Elijah nearly took his own life by wandering off into the desert. Gutsy.

We can bring our entire selves to God. God’s not threatened by our biggest, boldest feelings, and by making ourselves raw to God, we can…