I’ve spent a lot of time in my life thinking about FEAR. Studying FEAR. Helping people get past their FEAR. The word is an anchor in my ministry’s name and a commitment in my life to help others quell its oppressive grip.
One of the most important things I’ve learned about FEAR in the past couple of decades is that many people spend too much time trying to figure it out. My approach is to “simplify” FEAR by viewing it through this tight lens:
- MAN is predisposed to be fearful in life and cannot change that reality.
- GOD tells us how to deal with it and tame it in the process of TRUSTING HIM WITH THAT FEAR.
FEAR is much more than an unpleasant emotion that shows up when we sense danger. We need to move from viewing FEAR as an uncomfortable emotion to seeing it as a God-breathed EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.
We’re biologically hard-wired to sense DANGER.
Our senses WARN US by producing an urgent FEAR RESPONSE in our God-given self-protection neuro-network. A feather touches our neck. We jump to see if it’s a child waving a soft feather across our skin or a snake slithering toward its next meal.
We put our five senses on high alert when loud noises trigger our startle-response. We heed our olfactory warning when we smell smoke. We swerve when an oncoming car breaches the line separating our lanes.
These examples of fear-inducing, reactive responses almost always carry over to life’s bigger fears common to man–health, financial, and relational.
In many cases, our fear is a WARNING for us to “RIGHT NOW do this or do that. Change this or change that.”
Fear is an ALARM reminding us to search for the TRUTH behind our fear. Our fear then quickly needs to be turned over to God and placed in HIS hands as he commands. This is when we need to remind ourselves of God’s truth that we need not fear because he is in control.
Prolonged FEAR can be a sign of INACTIVE faith that clouds our view of truth.
God is truth and he is sufficient.
I ask God to replace my fear with faith.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
How much more JOY would you have if you allowed God to tame your FEAR?
“But whoever listens to me will have security. He will be safe with no reason to be afraid.” Proverbs 1:33
