When Fear Makes Us Run From What’s Not Chasing Us

Something happened that left me amused, reflective, and honestly shaking my head at how powerful fear can be when we let it guide our vision.

My son was walking home from work, heading toward the train station, when he noticed a woman walking ahead of him with her backpack hanging completely open. Her belongings were seconds away from tumbling out.

Being the helpful soul he is, he called out, “Excuse me!”

That’s when the unexpected happened.
The woman turned around and saw not my son but the silhouette she feared: someone tall, dressed in all black, hood up, face half-covered with a snood to fight the cold. And instead of hearing his words, she heard her fears.

She ran. Full speed.

My son, shocked and confused, ran after her trying to explain, “I’m not trying to scare you! Your backpack is open!”

Eventually she paused long enough to actually see him.
Not the imagined threat.
Not the silhouette her mind created.
Just a kind young man trying to help her.

Embarrassment settled in. Gratitude followed. And then something strange happened: she handed him a bag of food insisting he take it, even though he tried to refuse. Whether it was guilt, panic, or a strange mixture of both, we’ll never know.

Later, sitting on the platform far away from her, he called his friends to recount the dramatic moment. Their advice was instant:
“Throw it away! You don’t know what spirit she carries!” 

So he came home, marched straight to the bin, and tossed the unopened food just like they told him.

When he told me the story, I looked at him and said, “Go and bring it back out. Let me see this ‘mysterious’ meal. I eat food, chase masquerades, and confront witches in my sleep. A takeaway bag won’t threaten me.”

He hesitated, afraid for me fear then obeyed.

When he brought the bag, it was sealed, fresh, and clearly something she had just picked up from Uber. Probably her dinner. A whole meal she surrendered because fear distorted her reality.

And that’s exactly how fear works.

Fear makes us run from what isn’t running after us.
Fear makes us misjudge people who mean us well.
Fear makes us surrender things that belong to us: things we’ve paid for, prayed for, waited for.

Fear can make us give away our “dinner,” our blessing, our opportunity, our peace, just because our mind painted a picture that wasn’t true.

How many times have we done the same?
How many times have we let fear talk us out of something God was trying to give us?

Fear whispers: “The giants are big.”
Faith responds: “My God is bigger.”

Fear stares at the walls.
Faith sees the One who brings walls down.

Fear says: “You’re not enough.”
Faith says: “God is more than enough.”

My conclusion?
I prayed over the food—skabashed (spoke in tongues) properly and ate it. 

But the real meal that night wasn’t in the bag…
It was the lesson: When fear leads, we lose. When faith leads, we see clearly.

Have you ever let fear convince you of something that wasn’t real or make you give up something that actually belonged to you?

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