In a fallen and spiritually pitch-dark world, life will be difficult and make you feel afraid at times. In life here on earth, we will be faced with situations in which we cannot see our way out. Situations that spell miracles. Yes, places only God himself will need to walk in order to deliver us. Situations that, for us to come out of them, the laws of nature as we know them must be defied.
Money, who we know or who we are related to, does not make us exempt from facing challenges. The prerequisites for facing difficulties in life are being human and alive.
You see, there is always a spiritual battle raging, and we are in the middle of it. Whether Christian or unbeliever, a soul is a soul and will be fought over until it passes on to eternity. Light has already won, but darkness will fight to the end.
Depending on the duration and frequency of the difficulties we face, we will begin to have a very strong and real emotion that we all feel at times as humans in a broken world, fear.
How would you define fear?
Well, for me, it is a feeling that is caused by anticipation of disruption to my security.
In this season, it is my health and desiring healing.
For others, it can be:
- Stability with a job
- Relationships
- Getting hurt
- Fear of death
- Change
- Loneliness
- Failure
- Rejection
- Uncertainties
- Fear of something terrible happening
- Inadequacy or feeling that we are not good enough.
I could go on writing about areas in our lives that can cause us to feel afraid, but I believe it all boils down to any situation that causes us to feel uncertain. Any situation we feel we have no control over.
One thing I am learning is that when in a dark place polluted by uncertainties in which human intervention is of no effect, we will begin to feel fear at times.
Fear can be crippling, and if allowed to grow unaddressed by the Living Word, it will spread its nasty roots into all areas of our lives, sucking the life out of everything it touches.
Fear is such a powerful emotion that, if allowed, can keep us from accomplishing our God-given purposes and living our best lives.
When fear festers in our lives, It manifests In the form of stagnation and prevents and aims to prevent us from taking advantage of opportunities we are blessed with on a daily basis.
We become so fixated and consumed by the issues at hand that we cannot count our blessings, living a day at a time and trusting God to walk us through. I am guilty of this.
We turn our lives over to Jesus, asking Him to carry out His will in our lives, but we never see that His ways or not our ways and that vines are pruned and grapes are crushed in order for them to reach their full potential. I guess we can rightly say growth or maturity will cause some pain.
Unfortunately, in this dispensation, many Christians live in prisons of fear, unable to see that there is life to be lived when we feel afraid until God delivers us from whatever affliction we are facing.
In fact, sometimes, as Christians, we pretend that fear is an emotion we do not feel.
We go around pretending we have everything under control when the truth is we are limited in our ability to see the future.
I believe this has been detrimental in the body of Christ because, how do we help each other when we are programmed to hide any and everything unpleasant we encounter?
The Bible states that we overcome by the word of our testimonies. How will we overcome and help others when we hide what we feel and how God is helping us to overcome the very real emotion, fear?
Revelation 12:11
“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Friend, fear does not mean you are weak!
Elijah, the prophet, called down fire from Heaven and then ran away when Jezebel threatened to kill him.
The disciples were on the boat with Jesus when the storm raged; they asked Him if He did not care if they perished. He was in the boat bodily with them, and they were afraid. Yes, they were feeling fear!
They were human like you and me. Their lives were in danger.
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day, when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
What stood out for me in this reading is the question Jesus asked, “Do you still have no faith?”
What does this mean to you?
No matter how strong our faith is in this life, we will have trials. We will be faced with situations that make us feel afraid. Being afraid does not make us less of a Christian.
Because we are so reluctant to admit fear as an emotion, we feel as Christians, we do not know how to handle this strong emotion or how to advise (based on biblical principles) others in the body who feel afraid.
When the storms of life rage, what should we do as believers? What do we do when we are faced with situations that take us to dark places that cause us to feel afraid to the point that it can become crippling?
I think we can start by knowing what the word is saying about fear.
We can stand firm, knowing that we serve a loving and caring Father who has not taken His eyes off of us.
No matter where we are, He is aware of us.
David said in Psalm 139: 7:12
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Eleven Bible Verses to read and meditate on when you feel afraid.
Here are ten Bible verses that you can meditate on when you feel afraid. When you feel like your back is against the wall. When all you see around you is darkness and fear creeps in. You do not need to live in darkness, Friend. Focus on Jesus, and He will be your way in the wilderness and the light of your life, leading you on from whatever momentary affliction you are facing into eternity.
2 Corinthians 4:17
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!
Eleven Bible verses to target fear in our lives
Psalm 23:4
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 56:3-4
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”
Psalm 46:1-3
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
Psalm 34:4-5
“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”
Psalm 27:1
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 118:6
The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.
Isaiah 41:13
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.
Deuteronomy 3:22
Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.
Luke 12:32
(Jesus says), “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Psalm 27:3 – “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.”
A prayer you can pray when you feel afraid.
Dear God,
I just thank you that I am alive and well, and I am present in the land of the living. I thank you, God, that you are and have been in control of all the details of my life even before I was born. Please help me to understand that I am never alone. Remind me daily that you have not given me a spirit of fear but of love, peace, and a sound mind.
Remind me that you are seated in Heaven on your throne, and all power and authority belongs to you. Remind me that you are the God that changes times and seasons. You promised that you would never leave nor forsake me. Remind me daily that you are in the business of miracles and that I am your child and a candidate for a miracle.
Lord, remind me daily that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
Remind me that even when I am not faithful, you are.
Please help me to focus on resting and trusting that you are aware of me and there is an expiration date on anything I am facing. Help me, Lord, to cast all my cares on you because you are aware of all the details of my life, and your plans for me are good. Help me, Lord, to focus on the areas of my life that I can make positive changes in and forget the areas I cannot change but are possible for you because you specialize in impossibilities.
Lord, help me to be focused on the countless blessings that are in my life even when I am faced with challenges. Help me to understand that you are my strength; you are my healer; you are my comforter.
You are:
My God, mighty and strong.
The Lord, my healer.
The Lord, my provider.
Whatever it is I need in this season of my life, you already are.
Help me to leave my cares at your feet and focus on giving you thanks for the way you are delivering me. I tell you thanks today that my testimony will be a beacon of light to others, leading them out of bondage.
Help me to see that you are doing a new thing. You are making new ways in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Amen
If Elijah can call down fire out of Heaven and then run from Jezebel, we will all have seasons in which we feel afraid and will need to apply faith.
Today I encourage you, friend, to Let your faith be bigger than your fear.
When the odds seem they are against us, let us choose to exercise faith that makes no sense.
That is what I am doing, and I will not stop having radical faith. Yes, faith that makes no sense in the natural but is pleasing to my Heavenly Father.
Faith that causes the Spiritual realm to shift and manifest in the natural.
Your Friend in Christ,
Kimberlee
Thinking out loud because life is better shared!
P.S. Here are four songs you can listen to as you allow the Holy Spirit to work on fear in your life.
Songs
You Know Me
The Anthem
Victory Belongs to Jesus
The Breakup song
