354. Fear (1)

The verse says “I had much fear and it happened to me!”. This means to say that the thing about which I was afraid came about. It says further “One whose heart is correct trusts in Hashem!” and “One who supports his heart will not be afraid!”. It appears that the fear can actually cause the bad thing to happen even though it should not really have happened, and because he was afraid of something he can cause that thing to actually happen, whereas one who trusts in Hashem will be surrounded by kindness. (Tehillim 32:10). The basic truth is that people are not fully in control of their thoughts and even if we tell him all day that he should not be afraid, he will still be scared. On the other hand, a person can actually stop his fears by delving profoundly into pure thoughts, by thinking “Why should I be scared of the bad things which consistently come to the world? It would surely be far better to fear the awesomeness of Hashem and the splendor of his wonderfulness.” This will work because a person is physically incapable of thinking two thoughts at once. What gain will he have by being scared? Anyway if it has been decreed that a bad thing will happen to him it will definitely happen as there is no way to save himself. If it was not decreed, then all he has is his fear. Not only is this the case but his fear can cause bad things which were not decreed to happen to him. It follows that a person should strengthen himself and make his heart strong like that of a lion, he should trust in Hashem that no bad things will happen to him, and if a decree is decreed to him, he should remember that everything that Hashem does is for the good. Nevertheless, even though he should not be scared he should worry for himself, and it follows that he should do everything that is in his power and precede any trouble with prayer and perform acts of charity which annuls evil decrees, and Hashem will do that which is good in His eyes.