What keeps you up at night? Ever experience the syndrome where you cannot turn your mind off because you’re thinking about stuff? I fall asleep rather easily, but if I wake up in the middle of night, usually to use the restroom, anxious thoughts can creep in my mind, and it can be so difficult to shut them down.
Chapman University has a Survey of American Fears, nine years running. Before continuing to read this post, what fears do you think make Chapman’s 2023 Top Ten Fears list? The fears that come to my mind are personal financial instability, political turmoil, the environment, and something bad happening to my family. What about you? Here’s the 2023 list of what Americans report makes them afraid or very afraid:
1. Corrupt government officials (60.1%)
2. Economic/financial collapse (54.7%)
3. Russia using nuclear weapons (52.5%)
4. US involvement in World War (52.3%)
5. People I love becoming seriously ill (50.6%)
6. People I love dying (50.4%)
7. Pollution of drinking water (50.0%)
8. Biological warfare (49.5%)
9. Cyber-terrorism (49.5%)
10. Not having enough money for the future (48.0%)
How does your list compare?
Because Chapman University has been studying fear for nine years, they’ve seen significant changes in people’s impressions of fear. Environmental concern is decreasing, while concern about war is on the increase. Makes sense when we consider that there was no war in Ukraine or Israel nine years ago. New life circumstances can make us feel new fears.
Rather than be subject to the swirling storms of local, national or international events, is there any way we Christians can find stability in the midst of what might cause us fear? Come to think of it, Is all fear bad? What does the Bible say about fear? As we continue studying 1st Samuel, chapters 11 and 12 have a lot to say about fear. Read them this weekend, and then I look forward to studying them with you on the blog next week.
Photo by Vadim Bogulov on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 