Fear crowds out God

When I first began reading writers in the Christian spiritual tradition, I was surprised by the emphasis they placed on how practicing the spiritual disciplines could result in a deliverance from a bondage to fear. I was struck by these wise words by Marilynne Robinson, "first, contemporary America is full of fear. And second, fear is not a Christian habit of mind. As children we learn to say, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.' We learn that, after his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples, 'Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.' Christ is a gracious, abiding presence in all reality, and in him history will finally be resolved." Indeed, "fear is not a Christian habit of mind" and we fear ourselves from a bondage to fear through the gracious practices God has given us like constant prayer, meditation on Scripture, and worship.

Source: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/09/24/marilynne-robinson-fear