This weekend I read Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear, the latest book by Max Lucado. We certainly live in an era of fear. Every day the news is filled with stories about the risks of the global economic crisis, global warming, terrorism, and swine flu. Then in between the news stories, advertisers attempt to scare people into purchasing all sorts of insurance, anti-aging products, and prescription drugs. Fearless addresses many of the common fears people become paralyzed with by explaining why we don’t need to be afraid and how to deal with them when we feel afraid.
Personally, I don’t struggle with the kinds of fear Lucado discusses in this book. (I do battle fear. But my biggest enemies – fear of failure, conflict, and others’ opinions – aren’t tackled in this book.) Perhaps it’s the way God wired me up or where I am on my spiritual journey, but am not afraid of death, violence, worst-case-scenarios, not having enough money, or not being able to protect my kids. I trust that God will take care of me and my family. And I trust that when we’re in the midst of difficult times, that God is at work doing something important that is worth the pain.
For that reason the book really didn’t resonate with me. I don’t think it taught me anything new or changed my perspective on anything. I’m not coming away from it with any action steps or things I want to change about the way I live my life.
I imagine Fearless would be very reassuring and helpful to people who struggle with fear and anxiety, though.
Do you struggle with fear and anxiety? Have you read Fearless? Did you find it helpful?