Fear as a Choice

In the last general conference Elder Bednar spoke about fear.  The scripture that gave him the title of his talk came from the account of Alma and his people at the land of Helam.  They saw the Lamanites approaching and “were much frightened because of the appearance of the Lamanites” (Mosiah 23:26).  Alma encouraged them to “remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them” (Mosiah 23:27). The account then tells us that “they hushed their fears” and Elder Bednar pointed out that it wasn’t Alma that hushed their fears but that they hushed their own fears. 

This seems to imply to me that to fear is at least in part a choice that we make.  If this people could make the choice to not fear, then certainly they could also make the choice to fear.  I think other scriptures bear this out.  For example, there are many times that we are told to “fear not”.  In the Law of Moses the children of Israel were commanded, “Fear not, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8).  When Jesus was going with Jairus to heal his daughter, someone came and told Jairus that his daughter was dead.  Jesus then said to Jairus, “Fear not; believe only, and she shall be made whole” (Luke 8:50).  In our dispensation the Lord told us, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36).  In all of these verses, and there are many others that could be quoted, to not fear is an invitation given by the Savior.  So it must be a choice; if fear were something that we could not control, then how could the Lord command us not to have it?  But this is contrary to even the language we use about being afraid.  We say things like “that made me afraid” or “that gave me quite a scare” or “you scared me”.  All of these seem to refer to fear as something that is thrust upon us that we can’t control.  Perhaps it is not unlike being angry; we use the same kind of language about anger (“he made me so mad” or “he offended me”) which would imply that we can’t control our feelings of anger.  But we know as well that anger is a choice and not something that happens to us that is out of our power to stop.  So if fear really is a choice, how do we choose to not fear?  It sure feels like fear comes upon us without the ability to stop it.  Elder Bednar’s message seems to be that it is through a correct understanding of the power of Christ that we can choose not be afraid.  He said, “Correct knowledge of and faith in the Lord empower us to hush our fears because Jesus Christ is the only source of enduring peace….  Because of Him, our hearts need not be troubled or afraid (see John 14:27), and we will be blessed to hush our fears” (ThereforeThey Hushed Their Fears).  Ultimately I don’t think that on our own we can really hush all our fears; but with true faith in Christ and a choice on our end to try to follow Him and cast out fear from our hearts, He will help us to do it.