Scarlett O’Hara’s Fix for Fear

Just say the name Scarlett and most of us envision that petulant, willful Southern creature from Georgia who stole our hearts in Gone With the Wind. Scarlett had her own way of dealing with troubles, fears, apprehensions – of which she had many. But might it be that the Belle of Atlanta actually followed Biblical advice for dealing with fear?

I am a fearful person – though I hate admitting it. I grew up in Miami, Florida in the late 40s and 50s pre-central air conditioning. My sister and I had two windows in our bedroom – one between our twin beds, and the other at the foot of my bed. Many nights I vividly imagined Sasquatch reaching his muscular, hairy arm inside and grabbing my foot. If the fear became too great, at the risk of sweltering to death, I’d close the window and just suffer.

Haven’t thought much about Sasquatch or the Boogey Man in years, but three kinds of fear seem most likely to arrest my thoughts these days. I believe there’s a simple way to handle them because one thing I know for sure is the Lord doesn’t want us to be afraid. “Do not fear,” or some derivative of those words, is the most oft repeated phrase in all the Word of God.

Fear of Calamity

I am a war baby, born to a mother hundreds of miles from her Italian family of origin, with a Navy dad serving in WW2 stationed far away. She sang to me but the songs were all sad and she was fearful of bad news. I do believe some of that transferred to my little soul. Our feelings hold great influence over our offspring. A few years ago I realized I had an underlying dread, a gnawing disquiet that haunted me in the dead of night when I was still enough for subconscious thoughts to arise.

God knows our human weakness (Ps. 103:14) – that we are dust clods into which He breathed life or we’d be nothing at all. He has compassion for how anxious we are about bills that outlast the paycheck, children on the road to perdition, a climbing cholesterol count and countless other nagging imaginations of the mind.

Here’s His solution:

Don’t be afraid. I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in the rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end – because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior.

                                                                        Isaiah 43:1-3 The Message

Fear of Death

There’s a file in my desk marked “Funerals.” It’s been there a while and from time to time I file something in it

• Copies of our living wills
• Songs I want at my memorial service
• Cartoons by Maxine about death
• What I want served at the dinner following the service

I talk about my death much more than my parents did. I’ve always said I want them to play “I’ve had the time of my life and I owe it all to You…”—yes, the theme song from Dirty Dancing—at my funeral. I figure my family will need some laughs about then while they’re sitting around the table eating shrimp and saying things like, “Remember how Mom always wigged out before Thanksgiving Dinner and we’d all want to leave the house?”

Death is inevitable, but our fear of it is optional. Didn’t that young psalmist of Israel, a shepherd by trade, remind us where to focus when these fears slam hard? “Even when you end up at the gate of death, I’ll be right there with you, staff in hand, to lead you across” (Ps. 23:4 Cathee’s translation). So what do we have to fear? It’s gonna be okay. Really.

Fear of Insignificance

Of all my fears, this one has been greatest: they won’t have anything to say about me when they’re eating the shrimp! What have I done with my life that will count when I’m gone? Wise King Sol put it this way, “No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them” (Ecc. 1:11 NIV). But then he was somewhat of a pessimist. I think he was just processing when he wrote most of that book.

The question of purpose and significance requires self-probing and being intentional with how we spend the treasure of time allotted to us. We all want our dash to count, don’t we? (Cathee Poulsen 1943 – 2033). That little mark between the year of our birth and the year of our death? If so, every minute counts toward something. When we redeem the time we’ve been given (Col. 4:5), we make good use of those seasons of opportunity when they come.

Let’s get back to Katie Scarlett O’Hara. Whenever things were caving in—whether Tara was up for auction, or she desperately needed to raise cold hard cash fast, or Rhett was leaving her for good—she had one solution:

“I’ll think of it all tomorrow…After all, tomorrow is another day.”

I don’t find her words so very different from these:

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matt. 6:34).

The solution to fear – the answer for any need we have – is the Presence of God in our todays and tomorrows. When Moses set out on the terrifying adventure of leading three million complaining Jews across a barren wilderness, he was afraid. Here’s how the story went…

One day Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me whom you will send with me. You have told me,’I know you by name, and I look favorably on you.’ If it is true that you look favorably on me, let me know your ways so I may understand you more fully and continue to enjoy your favor. And remember that this nation is your very own people.” The LORD replied, “I will personally go with you, Moses, and I will give you rest–everything will be fine for you.” (Exd 33:12-14 NLT).

The answer to our worries and fears is that He knows our name and He is with us; that His presence is always there – before, after, and in-between. Everything will be fine. He said so.