Fear Is The Enemy Of Eminence By Richard Olanrewaju Odusanya

Fear has consistently been a mishap for a significant number of us. It has caused numerous damages, numerous difficulties, and has been a friendly enemy to us all but one thing most of us fail to know is ‘fear is nothing but the absence of courage’.

The causes of fear in man are inferable from numerous reasons. Extremely important occasions like graduation, job, marriage, house, relationships, failures, and pain are daunting moments. Our conscious mind dwells on living up to expectations that society pushes on us. This can cause people not to enjoy tranquillity of the soul to live a peaceful life expected of them to fulfill the essence of their existence.

I have always loved reading about the life of Joshua in the Bible. He has been one of my favourite Bible characters for as long as I can remember. The theme of his life was, “Be strong and courageous, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” The lessons of Joshua applied to our lives.

Joshua’s example of courage can be an example to us. We need to lean on God to overcome our fears. We have to remind ourselves:

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, NIV).

The Muslims will always say one who has no belief in Allah is naturally fearful about everything. He feels empty and lonely especially when threatened. He lacks all spiritual strength and hopes to stand firm and above worries. “So seek the ways to draw closer to Allah”. (Al-Maidah 5:35)

It doesn’t make any difference the religion you have a place God does not want us to be afraid. He wants us to have courage — courage that comes from relying on Him. Fear is unhealthy. It makes people tell lies, corrupt and renegade from one’s faith.

Fearing anything other than the Almighty is counter-gainful to a productive life. It causes disturbance of worship, energy will be sapped, faith becomes weakened and all endeavours – economical, social and spiritual will be invaded with relapse and life will get hopeless.

How do we face our fears? How do we overcome our irrational fear of oppressors? How do we deal with the giants in our lives?

We can take a lesson from Joshua. He was a man of great courage — a man who drew his courage, his strength, from the Lord. We can do likewise for ourselves.

We can’t slay the giants in our life. Not by ourselves.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6 ESV) “O Lord, give me greater knowledge.” (Surah Taha 20:114)

An ignorant man about the knowledge of the nature, limitation and capacity of God’s manifestations is overwhelmed by his fear and absence of understanding about what God says of specific situations, trails and secrets of the devil shall be submerged in persistent and avoidable torment of fear.

Conclusively, permit my indulgence with one of the famous quotes of the former American President Franklin D Roosevelt, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, reasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” –Franklin D Roosevelt. What I witnessed at the Unity Fountain this morning is nothing but showmanship, they called it a show of strength.

Richard Olanrewaju Odusanya convener of Africa Covenant Rescue Initiative