Fear and Trust

The mythical story is as old as the messages on my answering machine, but it’s worth retelling. It has to do with a frustrated hiker who approached a chasm he couldn’t cross. He saw a daredevil acrobat crossing it on a tightrope above hundreds of feet of empty space while pushing a woman in a wheelbarrow. When the hiker complimented the acrobat on his balancing skill, the performer said he had safely performed the feat countless times with the woman, who was his wife. “I’ll give you thousand-to-one odds that I can do it again,” wagered the acrobat.

“I’m sure you can do it,” said the hiker.

Then came the acrobat’s challenging invitation: “If you’re that sure, and really want to get to the other side, then get in the wheelbarrow!”

I think that must have been the same mythical hiker described in the similar and often-told story of how, having slipped off of a cliff, a man was hanging by an outcropping root while screaming, “Is there anyone up there to help me?” A divine voice from heaven asked if he would trustingly do anything required. The frantic man replied affirmatively, and was then told to let go. After a long pause, he called out, “Is there anyone else up there?”

We all like to boast that we trust God, who is more trustworthy than any mere human helper. Yet when we’re really put to the test, our trust often proves weak; we’re afraid to get in the wheelbarrow, and we’re afraid to really let go, in spite of countless assurances of God’s Word that we need not fear because of God’s absolute trustworthiness. “Fear and trembling have beset me,” admitted David (Ps 55:5), but he faced that fear and then, by God’s grace, he rose above it: “When I am afraid I will trust in you. . . . In God I trust; I will not be afraid” (56:3, 11, emphasis mine). High-caliber trust is refusing to panic when things seem out of our control, because we know they are never out of God’s control.

Thus, within that very same psalm, we see a subtle growth in David’s outlook that is reminiscent of Spurgeon’s classic two-level distinction in the faith-grounded virtue of trust. “You can get to heaven traveling first class or second class,” he writes. “Second class travelers are those who trust when they fear; first class are those who trust and don’t fear.” [note 2] David moved up from fear to nonfear: “When I am afraid I will trust” became “I will trust and not be afraid.” In midflight, as it were, he chose to upgrade from coach to first-class.

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:15-16). Once we have accepted Christ and as long as we remain aligned with God’s will, we need not fear punishment from God, nor should we fear God himself--other than by “fear of the Lord,” which is a fear or dread of offending him, that is, a reverent respect for him (see chapter 69 of this book).

Love should eclipse all morbid fear, as St. John reminds us: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 Jn 4:18). Anyone who really loves God trusts him totally, and it is that very trusting love that “drives out fear.”

From this observation, it can be deduced that the more we fear, the less we trust. The phrases “fear not,” “do not be afraid,” “why do you fear?” and the like appear 365 times in the Bible, and most often they refer to freedom from fear and anxiety as related to one’s trust in God. Jesus himself often affirmed thisidea: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God” (Jn 14:1, emphasis mine).

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and tapes can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.