Facing Our Fears

Spiritual First Aid Manuel

Facing Our Fears

“Fear” is a four letter word that has stopped a whole lot of people dead in their tracks, especially Christians, even though we’ve been told that God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7.

Frank Herbert, the creator of the Dune sage, gave this description of fear.

“Fear is the mind-killer.”

Fear is a killer, but not so much of our minds as it kills our soul and spirit. In essence, fear is a faith killer.

Fear is also the formula for failure. When we’re afraid we be begin to doubt God and ourselves. Fear also keeps us from growing into everything God has created and called for us to be.

And while we want to be rid of all fear and be strong and courageous like Joshua whom the Lord encouraged, to be rid of all fear is unrealistic, and in many ways dangerous.

Fear is actually an emotion given to us by God to keep us safe in dangerous situations. Fear actually helps us make good decision so we don’t put ourselves in harms way.

And while fear is good in these instances, what we need to be careful of is letting our fears rule our lives.

Everyone is afraid of something, from losing our jobs, health and finances, to the loss of life. But instead of facing our fears and giving them to God, we try to counter it by buying insurance policies and installing security systems on everything we are afraid of losing.

Fear is therefore a part of our everyday lives, and it always has been from the very beginning.

After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they hid themselves when they heard God calling for them.

Adam said, “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10 NKJV)

How sad is that, when we are unwilling to face our fears, like Adam and Eve we try to hide ourselves from God. Now do you see why I say that fear is a faith killer?

And so instead of running away from our fears, we should face them giving them over to the Lord who delivers us from all fears.

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4 NKJV)

To our fears, which have caused humanity’s faith to die, God sent good news. On the night Jesus was born the angel spoke these words to a bunch of frightened shepherds.

“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11 NKJV)

God has given to us the greatest gift of His Son so we no longer need to be afraid.

We live in a fearful world and in a fearful time, where natural disasters are up both in numbers and intensity. There are wars around the globe and the rumors of war abound in greater number. Diseases that were once thought eradicated are now making a horrific comeback, along with new ones that defy modern medicine, and they are both on the increase. We also have children killing others and themselves, not to mention the horrendous number of children that are being eradicated in the womb.

We truly live in a world that is designed to paralyze us with fear; maybe that’s why God tells us not to fear over 60 times.

And so with God’s help and strength we can face our fears and defeat them.

How can we face our fears? We can face our fears understanding first that…

1. God Created Us

Because God created us we can face our fears.

“God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness … So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.’” (Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV)

God created us, therefore He knows each one of us, has a design for all of our lives, and no matter what we go through, God will see us through to the end.

And while things happen that are not good, God says that He will work them out for good, Romans 8:28.

Further, we can be confident that God who has started this good work within us will complete it, Philippians 1:6.

God created us and therefore we are His.

Psalm 100:3 says, “Know that the Lord, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”