What Will Cause You To Panic?

The reality is there will be more John Chaus if we are sending people to the hard places. What a privilege to be him!

-Anna Hampton

• What will cause you to quiver in the face of danger for the cause of Christ?

• What threat, when you receive it purely in your human strength, makes you want to turn tail and run?

• What causes the feelings of anxiety to turn to panic?

Realizing what your instinctive mental coping mechanisms are take self-reflection and self-observation, and this takes time and focus. These are habits we cultivate that help our brain to calm itself so it can begin to think and not move into fear or paralysis.

One example of a brain-calming response:

Threat: A situation of constant verbal threat of "we will kill the infidels and anyone who converts"

Brain-Calming Response: “Yada yada yada.”

That's it, that's the response.

Mentally repeating "yada yada yada" means, "Yawn! What else is new?...It's the same threat said in these situations."

While the threat is often real, it’s also culturally appropriate when a Muslim is put under pressure and threatened with total shame to his or her family that this is what must be said in response to Christians.  In other words, we can have grace and patience towards a person who threatens to kill Christians. They are afraid for any of a huge number of reasons so they say this. 

It's their predictable response. In a sense, it’s their brain-calming way when their power-base is threatened by Christians and Christ’s power. So we have to use other tools to evaluate the threat. But because this is such a common threat, initially using our own brain-calming responses so we can engage in wise threat analysis helps us not to freeze and respond appropriately.

When should we pay close attention to this type of threat? When is that threat serious?  

I've addressed discernment in risk and evaluating threats in other blog posts, and right after I (mentally) yawn when hearing this threat, of course my mind goes into immediate risk assessment and threat analysis to evaluate how real it is.  We don't dismiss the threat of someone trying to kill us because we are Christians.

However, my main point with this post is to ask you to ask yourself, "What will cause you to panic?" 

If your calling is to tell people who are unreached or least reached about the Good News of Jesus Christ, what will cause you to panic in the face of the threat of danger or in the face of real danger?

If a simple, understandable threat causes panicky feelings to arise inside you, recognize it as a growth area of learning resilience in the face of the threat of danger.

What do you need in your relationship with God and others to not panic?
What do you need to do in your mental resiliency to hold steady and endure well?

This is where life gets real and raw in facing danger.  Panicking never helps.

On the hunt for Mature Courage.