Conquering the Fears of Our Day
WHEN an awful fireball and mushroom-shaped cloud rose above Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, a new fear began gripping the hearts of mankind—the fear of nuclear annihilation. Now it was possible for a single bomb to demolish an entire city.
Expressing this fear, Arthur H. Compton, Chancellor of Washington University and a Nobel Prize winner, said in 1946: “The terrific blast at Hiroshima shocked the world into a realization that catastrophe lies ahead if war is not eliminated. This great fear has for the time being overshadowed the hope that atomic energy may vastly enrich human life if given a chance.”
To investigators who visited Hiroshima after the war, a city official said, while gesturing toward his demolished city: “All this from one bomb; it is unendurable.” Now, in 1969, hydrogen bombs exist that are several thousand times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima. Contemplating the frightful, unendurable devastation such bombs could bring upon modern cities and the slim chance of survival, people the world over look to the future with fearful anxiety.
Fear of nuclear war is only one of many distressing fears that trouble people today. There is also fear of the growing crime and violence in the streets, fear of economic loss, and so forth. How can such fears be conquered so that a person can live without their creating a constant feeling of insecurity? Although this may seem very difficult, it can be done.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE FUTURE
Fear of a nuclear war, for example, is aggravated by uncertainty as to what the future will bring. Now, if a person could know what will happen in the future, where the nations are headed and what he personally can do to keep himself and his family alive, would that not enable him to conquer fear of nuclear war? But how is it possible to know the future and remove uncertainty about it?
On his own, man does not know what the days to come will bring, but his Creator does. Long ago it was written in the Bible that our Creator is the One “telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done.” (Isa. 46:10) Long ago he caused to be written in the Bible the very troubles that have made the period since 1914 “critical times hard to deal with.” (2 Tim. 3:1) As also foretold, we see men becoming “faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.”—Luke 21:26.
Going beyond what is happening today, the Bible gives us a view of the future. Despite fears that people have of nuclear annihilation, our Creator foretells in his written Word that wars will cease and the earth will become a place of peace, with mankind coming under the rule of a just and righteous earth-wide government. (Ps. 37:11; Dan. 2:44) The present system of man-made government that has created the perilous situations causing fearful anxiety for the future will give way to that new government of God’s making. Faithful servants of God who may die before then will not lose out. Those who lose their lives due to sickness, old age or violence will return to life by means of a resurrection.—Acts 24:15.
Many people who were once living in fear of nuclear war now look forward to the peaceful earth God has revealed to be in the near future for mankind. For example, an eighteen-year-old boy who indulged in wild living with his associates was so fearful of the future that he actually contemplated suicide, but he was able to conquer that fear by learning what God’s written Word has foretold for the near future.
FEAR OF CRIME AND VIOLENCE
But what can a person do to conquer fear of crime and violence in city streets? It would be foolish to go about pretending that this danger does not exist. It does and it can be expected to grow worse until God brings about his promised earth-wide change.
In the meantime people have to live with the situation. Fear of the danger can be diminished by taking sensible precautions. A person can avoid being on the streets at late hours when they are deserted. When he perceives a suspicious-looking person or group of persons loitering on the street ahead of him, he can avoid walking past them by changing his route. By taking precautions he can prevent fear from conquering him.
Fear of economic loss because of worsening national and international monetary problems can be conquered by adjusting one’s view of money. Instead of permitting a consuming love for money to develop so that it becomes the center of one’s life, a person can learn to keep it in a position of lesser importance than other things.
No matter what may happen to one’s possessions, if he has association with God’s organization he has good friends to whom he can turn for help and good counsel based on the wisdom of God’s Word. Such friendship is worth more than money and gives a greater sense of security.
Money is useful and necessary in the present system of things, but is it not foolish to conclude that life is not worth living when heavy financial losses are experienced? Is not life worth more than money and material possessions? Is it not foolish, then, to permit the fear of losing them to affect one’s health?
The Bible gives good advice when it says: “We have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.” (1 Tim. 6:7, 8) With this viewpoint, cannot a person conquer fear of loss?
There are many fears that disturb people, but they need not become overpowered by them. With the help of God’s Word and good sense it is possible to conquer the fears of our day.