Fear Squelches: Have You Struggled To Be Creative During the Pandemic?

Fear seems to be a constant companion to so many people in the last year or so.  The pandemic has triggered a default mindset of fear in many people that were not controlled by fear before.  And American politics has engendered a spirit of fear in many citizens, even Christians, who have been specifically instructed not to operate from a spirit of fear:  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” II Timothy 1:7  (NLT)  

Fear is destructive, not constructive.  If you live in fear and operate in fear, you work from a defensive mindset, not a creating mindset. The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2001 reported on an experiment in which college students played a game to help a mouse escape a maze.  In one version, a piece of cheese was placed at the exit of the maze.  In another version, the cheese was removed and an owl flew above the mouse threateningly.  

All the mice got out safely, but then the students were given a creativity test.  The students who had to help their mouse escape the owl had scores 50% lower than the students who helped their mouse to the cheese!   Fifty percent lower.  That’s significant.  That seems to illustrate that operating from a mindset of fear and vigilance squelches creativity.  

It probably squelches more than creativity.  It probably squelches productivity in general.  It necessarily interferes with our ability to concentrate on a task because we are having to be divided in our attentions.  

And I’m pretty sure fear squelches love.  Fear is a self-protective instinct, so it requires focus on the self, which is the antithesis of love.  So fear is an enemy of love and it makes us see enemies in others we should love.  Fear is destructive, not constructive.  

I think Jesus wanted to take away our fears so we could operate in that sphere of freedom and love and confidence. Anticipation, not anxiety.  If we trust God to do good, we don’t have to fear ANYTHING, even things that appear terrible to our eyes.  “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (II Corinthians 5:7) We are confident God can turn it to good.  So that brings this freedom to create and love and anticipate.

I’m not speaking as one who is there.  I’m speaking as one who can see this truth, but struggles to live in it.  But I know we all have to keep fighting against the societal default to fear.  We have to choose to create and love.