There are many things in this life that create fear in our minds. Some fear is valid such as the fear of touching a hot stove which would burn us or the fear of a dangerous activity. Then there is the fear of things that are not relevant such as the unknown, the dark or imagined things. I’ve heard the acronym, F E A R – False Evidence Appearing Real. Many things we fear appear real or are imagined to be real but in fact are not. The Gospels list about 125 commands of Jesus and of these, twenty-one is “to not be afraid”. The second most, which appear eight times, is to love God and your neighbor. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” So where does the spirit of fear come from? Of course, it comes from the devil! So why do we accept something the devil shoves at us? Well, we’re not alone.
In three of the Gospels is the story of Jesus and His disciples on the lake when a storm came up. Jesus was napping but the disciples were afraid and went to Him for help. He got up, calmed the storm then rebuked them for being afraid. We might think, “They were with Jesus, why were they afraid?” Jesus is with us always (Hebrews 13:5), so should we be afraid? No. But the point is we will go through storms in life so we need Jesus with us always AND be calmed by that fact.
When my grandkids were small, they would not want to walk home across the yard after dark. They asked me to go with them and I did. When Pawpaw was with them, there was no fear. They knew and trusted that I would take care of them. That’s the concept of no fear with Jesus.
If you’re troubled with fear, I suggest you take a little time and Google some scriptures relating to fear, such as 2 Timothy 1:7 above, and memorize them. Then when you feel fear coming on, recite these Biblical truths and tell the devil to back off! Fear is not something we should be harassed by because it hinders or blocks us from Gods plan for us. FEAR NOT!