Resources > Devotions Phabulously Phunny Phobia Posted by Rev. Jeff Dixon, Senior Equipping Minister, Covenant Community Church on Oct 24, 2003, 16:18

Phabulously Phunny Phobia

A devotion that is a part of the KNOW FEAR collection of resources from CCC

The names sound humorous and they can become real tongue twisters. Phobias are real and many people struggle with them (even if they don’t know what to call them) Psychologists have given names to almost every fear (or phobia) under the sun. For example, if you have a fear of…

…crowds—then you have ochlophobia.

…darkness—you have nyctophobia.

…being looked at by other people—you have scopophobia.

…failure—you have kakorrhaphiophobia.

…loneliness—you have monophobia.

…marriage—you have gamophobia.

…poverty—you have peniaphobia.

…responsibility—you have hypengyophobia.

…ridicule (being made fun of)—you have categelophobia.

…school—yep, you guessed it, schoolphobia.

…God—theophobia.

…death—thanataphobia.

…hell—hadephobia.

What are you afraid of?

We all have fears—some that are good (they protect us) and some that are bad (they destroy us). If you are a person with too many fears, your life will not only be miserable, but you are an easy target for the world around you. The world preys on your fears—your fear of rejection, your fear of growing old, your fear of pain, your fear of loneliness.

But Jesus taught that we shouldn’t be afraid of anyone or anything that would hurt us in the physical realm. God will take care of all our needs. We really don’t have to worry. On the other hand, Jesus said, we should fear anyone or anything that could hurt us spiritually and separate us from eternal life. (Matthew 10:28)

But for the Christian, God has taken care of that, too. As Paul wrote, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). We have nothing to fear.

Remember that….and Know Fear…….