Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest

Edward T. Welch
New Growth Press (2007)
ISBN 9780978556754
Reviewed by Dr. Michael Philliber for Reader Views (2/08)


Anxiously struggling to keep calm as the doctor talks about the serious results of the last biopsy report, or fretting over the bills when there has been more month than money, or terrified about how to raise those children and make ends meet now that your spouse has bailed out on you. At the center of all these scenes is a common difficulty: fear. If the dark cloud of fear were removed, you would likely handle these situations differently, with greater courage and with calmer sensibility. Ed Welch addresses fear head on in his recent book “Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest.” This book of thirty thoughtful chapters is valuable for normal, ordinary men and women struggling with fear, as well as pastors and counselors who often are called in to bring some comfort to people in scary situations.

In the first part of the book Welch forces the reader to pause and reflect on the origin of fear, as well as to recognize the real source of our fears, and what those fears might be telling us.  According to Welch, Fear alerts us to how we are interpreting our state of affairs, and that interpretation then exposes what it is we really cherish. For example, fear says ‘I am in danger of something.’ That danger might be perceived as the threat of being vulnerable, the risk of being embarrassed, or the peril of losing control. These fears reveal that we may be relishing other people’s opinions too highly, or that we prize being god-like in controlling people and circumstances. The working assumption in “Running Scared” is that whatever rules the heart influences our actions. Therefore, to strip our fearfulness down to its source can become the first liberating step toward overcoming that fear.

Then Welch goes on to show that God has quite a lot to say about fear in the Holy Scriptures. He demonstrates that the Bible is full of strong words of comfort for those being swallowed up in anxiety. God’s no-nonsense words of reassurance can transform a bleak situation into something life changing. To show how real-life God’s words are, Welch carefully unfolds what God has to say about (1) money and possessions, (2) people and their judgment, (3) and death, pain and punishment. In each of these sections, he not only shows what God has to say, but gives sensible guidance on how to apply them.

In many ways this book is far beyond a self-help book in its approach and usefulness. Self-help books are primarily focused on me changing my view of myself. Whereas, in “Running Scared,” Welch’s overall point is that our anxieties and fears are a result of misplaced allegiances, most of which are centered on oneself. What conquers fear, quashes anxiety, and liberates from panicky fretfulness, is confident reliance on the God of the Old and New Testaments.

I have already used the material in this book in comforting one friend who lost his job, as well as in encouraging another friend who has found his financial circumstance troublesome for his growing family. I would highly recommend “Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest,” and have already started promoting it among everyone with whom I am coming into contact.

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