Our flight from Toronto to Calgary was at 27,000 feet and climbing as I watched the lady beside me go through her rosary beads for the third time. Her prayer book was on her lap and her eyes were closed. Besides being in prayer it was obvious that she was terrified of flying!

I cautiously offered an observation: “You’re afraid of flying I see.” Her eyes opened and she replied: “If you think I’m afraid, you should see my husband. He’s taking the bus.”

Fear is demonstrated in our lives in a multitude of ways. It can be in the choice to take the bus, that’s for sure. Sometimes it is in a person’s silence and revealed only in her eyes, dark with an absence of hope. At times it is found in the aggressive behaviour of a teen who feels no reason to love, no reason to care about the future. Fear can overwhelm those diagnosed with a serious illness. Occasionally I’ve seen it show up in the tears of a spouse who has been told they are no longer loved. I’ve even found it in the denial of one who has observed abuse by a relative.

Recently I attended a men’s camp and listened to a former drug dealer talk about how he had feared the loss of his wife who had come in contact with the Gospel. His initial response as a drug dealer was to resolve to kill the pastor! Instead, he discovered the love that casts out fear and his heart and life were changed! In place of fear he found courage.

Author and comedian Phil Callaway first introduced me to the concept that “courage is just fear that has said its prayers.” A wonderful thought, don’t you think?

So, what’s in the centre of your fears? Is it the loss of health? Perhaps the world’s financial instability? The knowledge of how little control we really have in this fallen world? Remember that courage is just fear that has said its prayers.

As a child my mother taught me this prayer: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Not a bad prayer for any age, and one I’ve kept close to my heart through all these years and all my fears.

What’s holding your fears back from saying their prayers? Courage is closer at hand than you might think.

Major Fred Waters is an Area Commander in the Prairie & Northern Territories Division. Edmonton and the north is his perspective presently on family, friends and ministry. Fred enjoys outdoor activities such as camping, hiking and gardening. Together with his wife, Wendy, he has shared in the experiences of youth ministry, corps officership and administration.