Where to Look When You Feel Afraid

Fear is not merely a powerful emotion, but also a description of the human condition, a sign of our brokenness.

-Edward Song

Adam and Eve enjoyed a close relationship with God in the Garden of Eden. As a result, they had never known what it was like to be afraid.

That changed, of course, when they sinned by eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Afterward, when they heard the sound of God walking in the garden, they hid themselves. God asked, “Where are you?” and Adam reluctantly stepped out from behind the tree. He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10).

Adam named his feeling of fear and surrendered to its drive to hide. In truth, he was unable to stop himself from hiding, “for fear has to do with punishment” (1 Peter 4:18). Fear of being judged and harmed now ruled Adam’s mind and emotions, and his relationship with Eve and, most of all, with God, His Creator.