To overcome fear, we must first assess its place in our lives. According to the Oxford Dictionary, fear is “an unpleasant emotion, caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm.” It’s important to acknowledge fear can be a healthy emotion God gave us to keep us safe. It is the emotion that causes our body to fight, fight, or freeze when it needs to. Fear in our bodies acts as a warning light if we get too close to a cliff edge, or too close to a hot pot, or a burning fire. Fear in our bodies is an instinctive emotion that alerts the nervous system and is a huge part of our survival instincts as human beings. But the fear we are talking of today, however, is not the fear that keeps us safe, but rather the fear that keeps us bound.
What Does the Bible Say About Overcoming Fear?
How do we overcome fear? As Christians, we believe the Bible is the true word of God. In it, the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” - Isaiah 41:13 (emphasis mine)
If God asks us to fear not, then there must be a way to overcome this debilitating emotion, but how? The answer to how we overcome fear is found nestled into this very passage of scripture. It is here we read:
“I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand.”
Earlier on in this same chapter, God declares to Israel,
“Do not fear, for I am with you.”
He goes on to say how He strengthens us, helps us, and upholds us with His righteous right hand. Oh friend, if we had time there is so much we could say here, but one part of this is that you are never alone. God is always right there with you and beside you. He is upholding you with His right hand.
How Can Our Faith Help Us to Overcome Fear?
I have heard it said that fear is the opposite of faith, and I don’t know about you, but I just don’t believe that to be true. Faith is not an emotion but a formulated decision to follow and place our trust in someone higher than us. Where fear is an emotion felt by our bodies due to an external factor. Hot and cold are opposites as they are both temperatures. Negative and positive are both electrodes, but faith and fear are not the same things; therefore, they cannot be opposites.
Fear does not mean we do not trust God. I believe there were many people in the bible who operated in fear and faith. Esther, for example, as she approached the king, had the faith to believe God would move for her and her people, but she was no doubt afraid for her own life. If you are a person who feels fear that debilitates you, please know that there is no guilt here. Fear, anxiety, and depression all exist at times in our minds and our bodies, but their existence does not mean we do not have faith in God to love us, to move for us, or to move through us. Even in our moments of doubt, fear, or uncertainty, we can know with truth and assurance that God is with us, strengthening us and helping us no matter what it is we are facing or what storm we are weathering.
But thankfully, in God, fear can be silenced and overcome. 2 Timothy 1: 7 says,
“For God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control”.
Breaking Free of Fear through Faith
Fear takes hold of us, and if not dealt with, it can become a shackle or a chain that we are confined to, but that is not how God wanted us to live our lives. Rather, He offers us a life full of love, power, and self-control, all with the aim that we would be selfless, in powerful control of our lives, and able to live free in response to that. God is offering us an alternative to fear, and as Christians or followers of Christ, we have available to us the Holy Spirit, who can lead and guide us in the ways of Jesus. Who can prompt us, purify us, and direct us into the best path for our lives, leaving fear behind and instead walking in love?
1 John 4:18 reminds us that,
“There is no fear in love, But perfect love casts out fear.”
What is this perfect love? Just two verses earlier, we read that “God is Love” (Emphasis mine), and in these two verses, side by side, we see that God’s character is perfect love. Love is who He is, and He is the love that helps us cast out the fears that live unwanted in our lives, who take up residence where they shouldn’t be, causing us to be grieved, afraid, unsure, and bound.
Walking every day with God, learning to lean into and on Him, and trusting God to help and uphold us helps us deal with our fears and worries.
Scripture to Speak Over Your Fear
I would love to leave with you just two last verses of the many in the bible that talk of fear. Psalm 34:4 reads:
“I sought the LORD, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.”
And then Psalm 56:3-4 reads:
“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me.”
These verses talk of overcoming fear by seeking the Lord, by taking our eyes off what is going on around us, and placing them on the one we know we can trust. I love that Psalm 56 tells us that we will choose to praise when we are afraid. What if our resounding cry in fear was worship, prayer, or intercession? How different would our lives look in those moments?
I know how easy it is to be bound by the fears of tomorrow, the threats in front of us, and the warning signs going off left, right, and center. But I also know of the faithful God who sticks with us even in those moments and ensures that while the road can be rocky, we will never deal with life alone, and we will never be left alone. But He will come with us, strengthen us, uphold us, help us, and deliver us no matter what it is we face.
Maybe you deal with fear often. Friends, I encourage you to lift it all to Jesus and allow Him space to move in it. Lift your eyes up to the hills from where your help comes from.
But maybe you are reading these words debilitated by fear, and you do not know Jesus. Friend, reach out to the Lord, and He will come alongside you. Get in touch and I will happily share with you all about Jesus and pray that He will become the place you will put your trust when fear arises.
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