The Huffington Post recently ran a short article about fear. It featured a series of comics depicting common fears that children have alongside similar fears held by adults. Titled "Childhood Fears vs. Adult Fears," the cartoons illustrate the following pairs:

• Childhood fear: Doctors. Adult fear: Doctor's bills.
• Childhood fear: Bad dreams. Adult fear: Unfulfilled dreams.
• Childhood fear: Strangers. Adult fear: Crippling social anxiety.
• Childhood fear: Clowns. Adult fear: Clowns.

The article notes that though the fears of children are often discounted as irrational or silly by us "older" and "wiser" adults, they are not far off from our own fears. "They're proof that no matter how old we get, we're never alone in our fears," it says. In the end, however, it would seem that there is a line of logic that explains why the most common fears among adults are often as irrational as those of children: everyone has a fear of the unknown. There will always be uncertainty about jobs, relationships, finances, health, and any number of other daily concerns that can bring down even the most spirited people.

Is there a way avoid the downward spiral that anxiety brings? In a world as chaotic as this one, you definitely can't replace uncertainty with certainty. You can, however, fight against it with hope.

Potential Preaching Angle: One of the most common commands in the Bible is "Fear not." Yet anxiety, worry, and depression permeate our world. When life gives us serious worries about series topics, placing our hope in earthly things is dangerous. Jobs, relationships, wealth, and contentment are all fleeting. Therefore, we must hope in things that are not fleeting: salvation, eternity, and the vast love of God.