'There is no fear in love'

In the past, insecurity, stress, and fear accompanied my life. But about three years ago, the fear increased to such a depressing condition that the problem of how to overcome it needed to be solved. I did not sleep well. In the mornings I felt I couldn’t get up to do anything, and I often felt paralyzed by the fear. I hardly found any peace.

Through the study of Christian Science, I had already had a number of physical healings over the past years (including neurodermatitis and several allergies), and I had also overcome other difficulties. However, now constant fear determined my thinking. My usual way of praying, which had always been so freeing, hardly seemed possible. That’s why I turned to psychotherapy for help. Through my profession as a Gestalt therapist, it felt natural to me to meet this crisis, among others, by understanding and acknowledging the background of my experiences. However, the fear continued.

In a moment of deep despair, I turned to God with all my heart, asking Him to show me a way out of the fear. I then was ready to yield to God’s direction completely. This was the turning point. Suddenly a great peace encompassed me, and I realized with great clarity that, as a child of the perfect God, as His idea, I am created without the tiniest element of fear. I suddenly saw very clearly that fear was no part of me. I was able to think about who I really am. I dropped all psychotherapeutic methods and turned my whole thought to God.

I then asked a Christian Science practitioner to help me through prayer, which she lovingly did. And in my daily study of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible, I found numerous passages that led me to a deeper understanding of Life, God, and of my true spiritual identity.

In Science and Health, I read: “Insist vehemently on the great fact which covers the whole ground, that God, Spirit, is all, and that there is none beside Him” (p. 421 ). Whenever the fear attempted to impose itself on me, I thought: “No! There is no power besides God! Only He is at work here!” I insisted on this fact again and again. And that’s how I succeeded in interrupting the rehearsal of fearful thoughts, worries, and concerns, and made room for true thoughts and feelings to come in naturally—thoughts that come from God and feelings that reflect His qualities.

I was deeply touched by a statement from the First Epistle of John: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (4:18 ). Suddenly it was crystal clear to me: In love there can be no room for fear or a false belief of a threatened and unprotected life! Divine Love is the only real power from which all is created.

The practitioner compared my inseparable relationship with God to that of the sun and its rays. I began to understand that God’s love is in me and around me and renews itself every moment in its brightest radiance. And I saw that I am inseparably connected with the source of life and love, God. I felt this omnipresent Love and care tangibly and was filled with great joy.

But more than that, this realization also released me from a false and excessive sense of responsibility for others, which had led me to feel completely exhausted and overextended. How could I believe that I was the source for meeting other people’s needs? It is God who governs all life and meets everyone’s needs. Every individual is an expression of God’s love, inseparably connected to Him. Therefore, every individual is completely cared for with everything they need, independent of my human efforts to do what I think is good and right for them. As God’s expression, I can express only His qualities. This means that I can simply love and do for others effortlessly, because the source of my love is divine Love itself, which constantly and inexhaustibly nourishes me and others.

This spiritual understanding also dissolved the familiar psychological concept that fears are, among other things, brought about by experiencing excessive demands and lack of support and love in early childhood. But the understanding that I always was and always will be inseparably connected with God, Love, gave me the assurance that I had never been without God’s protection and care. Therefore, not a single experience in my childhood or after it could ever have touched or changed my God-given perfection and intactness. How freeing
this was!

Gradually, all symptoms of fear disappeared. They were replaced with a feeling of love, freedom, and fulfillment that I had never known before. This sense of life has been with me ever since, and I feel deep gratitude for the ever-present, infinite, and all-powerful love of God.

Andrea Sommer
Rösrath, Germany