Wet Paint

Darkness. Height. Depth. Foreign. Uncertainty. Certainty. Death. I'm looking for words that deter or change one's behavior using fear as a motive. I was going to put "Wet Paint" but we all know how that usually ends (wipes, please). 

A statement came to mind that I know was used a lot on me as a child - sometimes working, sometimes not. "If you [fill in the blank] you're going to [fill in the blank]." 

Let me give you some examples. "If you climb that tree, you're going fall and break your neck." Could have happened. Didn't. It just knocked the wind out of me. "If you eat that, you're going to get sick and die." Could have happened. Didn't. Worms are protein and are a third-world delicacy. "If you go down there, you're going to get eaten by rats or snakes or some wild animal." Could have happened. Didn't. It was a cellar in an old abandoned farm house. My mom should have worried that I would be buried alive when the house fell on top of me. Could have happened. Didn't. Thank God farm kids get tetanus shots. Kept the stuff I found down there in an old Dutch Masters cigar box for many years. "If you go too fast on your three-wheeler, you're going to fall off and get hurt." Could have happened. Didn't. Well...I was going fast when I went through the board fence and about decapitated myself, but I didn't fall off. Even as an adult - "If you go to Syria, you're going to get kidnapped or killed." Could have happened. Didn't. Best trip ever. Changed my life. 

My life was and is full of opportunities for fear to deter me from doing things. Fear is a good thing. I have yet to grab a downed power line or go 120 miles an hour down the freeway. But then there was that time when I was going across South Dakota. Okay scratch that last one. Fear can also be the beginning of life paralysis - a Howard Hughes existence. 

All of those things mentioned were foreseen potential dangers but life is by its very nature a series of foreseen and unforeseen dangers. Every moment is a potential something. I choose to be afraid or not to be afraid. The potential something did not change. My thinking about it did. 

I choose not to fear this virus. I'm still going to wash my hands and try not to get within spitting distance of someone. But I'm willing to hold my breath for a hug or to hold a dying saint's hand to comfort her. 

The following verses have put things in perspective for me. 

Proverbs 9:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." 
Proverbs 10:27, "The fear of the Lord adds length to life." 
Proverbs 14:27, "The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death." 
Proverbs 15:16, "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil." 
Proverbs 19:23, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of life."
Proverbs 22:4, "Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life." 

And one more to tie it up from Isaiah 33:6, "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure." 

I choose to fear - the Lord. And trust him with trees and worms and dark cellars and three-wheelers and foreign countries and foreign viruses. But don't play with forks...or you'll poke your eye out.