Fear

Hello friends! 
I'm finally getting around to finishing and publishing this post! I've been working on it off and on for over two months-yikes! 

We are all afraid of something. Some things are big, some things are small. But in all of us there is something we fear. You will discover some of my fears as you read farther down :)

What is fear? 

'Fear: An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or a threat.'

Feelings describing fear: 'Terror, fright, horror, alarm, panic, trepidation, dread, distress, anxiety, worry, apprehensiveness, nervousness, foreboding.'

Fear, as I mentioned about anger in my post on  Trust, is an emotion given to us by God. 

Is it wrong?  I think it depends on the situation and the degree of fear present.

There are different forms of fear. One type can push us to action in a good way. If we are afraid that a certain plant or animal is poisonous, we will be persuaded to avoid that plant or animal at all costs and warn others when we feel they are in danger of it's affects. We avoid getting to close to a fire, touching a hot stovetop or boiling water, because we are afraid of the pain that it will cause. 
That kind of fear, I think is a healthy fear; a fear that is not wrong and displeasing to God. It is a feeling He has given us to warn us of danger.  

Another kind of fear is one that, again, I don't feel like is displeasing to God, but it is unnecessary, maybe silly, and can be overcome.  Fears for me that fall into this category might be these: talking on the phone and awkward silences. These fears are unnecessary and can be overcome with God's help, or, if it's an action, can at least be done despite that feeling. 

I will point out that if any of the above fears control us, then they are displeasing to God. The Bible says that we cannot serve two masters at the same time (Matt. 6:24). If we are controlled, or mastered, by fear, then we cannot be serving God simultaneously. 

A third kind of fear that I think is displeasing to God, would be fear resulting from a lack of trust. 

For me, fears falling into a this category would be these: Oppressive darkness, idioism that makes people do senseless,  evil things, death of someone I love. 

Near the beginning of this post, we were given a--the world's, at least--description of fear. What, then is trust? 

'Trust: Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something; Allow someone to have, use, or look after (someone or something of importance or value) with confidence.'

Feelings describing trust: 'Confidence, belief, faith, certainty, assurance, conviction, credence; reliance.'

Why would this third type of fear be displeasing to God? Because we are told to trust God (Prov. 3:5; Ps. 37:3-5), and as I said before, this type of fear is usually resulting from a lack of trust. 

How do I know this? When we trust God we don't have anything to fear, because we trust who He is, and He is good and only does what is for our good as His children, and His glory as God (Rom. 8:28). We trust that He is sovereign and has control over every situation in our life (2 Chr. 20:6, Prov. 16:9, Ps. 115:3). We trust that He knows best and better than we do (Jer. 29:11; Rom. 8:28). We trust that He will protect us and guide us and carry us through tough situations (Ps. 66:10-12; Is. 46:4; Is. 63:9). We trust that no matter what happens in this life, He is always with us (Matt. 28:20; Is. 41:10) and if we are a child of God, we will be with Him in heaven forever (Jn. 3:16).   If we trust that God knows best, that He has control, that whatever happens is for our best--and that includes death for 'to live is Christ and to die is gain' (Phil. 1:21), is there any room for fear? I don't think so.  

What does the Bible say about fear?

'God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.' Ps. 46:1,2 
'When I am afraid, I will trust in You; in God (I will praise His word), in God, I have put my trust. What can man do to me?' Ps. 56:3-4
' The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army encamp around me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.' Ps. 27:1,2
'I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all of my fears.' Ps. 34:4
'Be strong and courageous; do fear, do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.' Josh. 1:9
'God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and of power and of a sound mind.' 2 Tim. 1:7 
'So we may boldly say, the LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?' Heb. 13:6, Ps. 118:6
'Yea, 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.' Ps. 23:4
"Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness."~Is. 41:10

Some verses that have comforted me when I am afraid along with some of the above ones, have been these: 
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. 2:14,15 
While I am not afraid of death for myself, I am sure without a doubt of where I will go after I die, you might say that sometimes I was/am 'subject to bondage of fear of death' of others that I love. It has been really hard to let go and surrender those I love to the LORD. But they are WaY better off in God's hands than mine! It is a lesson that I still struggle with sometimes. 

"I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shalt you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flies by day; Nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness; nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday." Ps. 91:2-6

"Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." Rom. 8:37


If you are afraid of the hard times that the Bible warns are coming with the end times (I'm not sure about you, but I often am), here is a verse pertaining to that: "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you in prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life." Rev. 2:10

So, let us not be afraid, rather let us stand strong, trust Christ, and walk forward with boldness.

I have to say, friends, that writing this post has been very good for me to process these things and realize that I need to and can trust Christ.  And it has actually helped me to maybe not be so afraid. I hope it has encouraged you, too!

I hope you have a blessed day :)

Julia <3


*The photos in this post are mine; please do not use without permission*

Pre-post to an upcoming one on the subject of fear :)

Hello friends! 

That's kind of a long title, isn't it? :) I feel like those people who write a summary of their book or essay etc. as the title of it :) 

I am working on a post on the subject of Fear. It is getting really long, and since this was going to be a sort of 'Rabbit Trail' and could probably be a whole separate post in itself, I thought that sharing it now would save some space on the upcoming one :) 

'Do not fear those that can kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him that can kill both body and soul in hell.' Matthew 10:28 
This verse has given me some trouble, because the root of three of my personal fears--opressive darkness, idiosim that makes people to evil, senseless things, and death of someone I love--are the enemy. The enemy is the root of death; John 8:44 says that he was a 'murderer from the beginning'. The enemy loves death. 
He is also the root of oppressive darkness. While I don't think the Bible directly says that 'Satan is darkness' like it says in 1 John 1:5 that "God is light and there is no darkness in Him," Satan is very often associated with darkness, and since God is Light and can have no darkness, and Satan seems to be the opposite of God, (God is truth, Satan is a liar; God brings life, Satan brings death; God forgives and loves, Satan says, 'Fight back; hurt those that have hurt you'; God says, 'Trust Me,' Satan says, 'Doubt God--can He really mean that?' These are some examples of the contrast between God and Satan), since Satan seems to be the opposite of God, and darkness is the opposite of light, than Satan must be darkness (by darkness, of course, I do not mean the physical darkness that comes with the night--that is God-created and God-given; I mean evil, spiritual darkness). There is a blog post that I read recently that was very encouraging regarding this. You can find it here.

In the verse above, Matt. 10:28, it says that we (those of us that are Christians) should not be afraid of those that can kill our physical bodies, but cannot kill our souls (the spiritual part of us). But we should instead fear the one (Satan) that can kill both our physical bodies and our soul in hell.  This verse seems to tell us to fear him.  But in this instance, I think that God is not saying to be afraid of the enemy physically. I mean to literally, physically be afraid of his presence. I think that in this verse He is warning us to be wary of him. To be on guard against his tactics, lies, the arrows that he tries to throw at us to sway us, to make us doubt God's goodness, honesty, sovereignty, love, wisdom and desire to give us only what is good and best for us. Satan did this in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, causing them to rebel against God's design and perfect plan, disobey Him and bring sin and the results of sin--death, suffering, separation from God, etc.--into the world. 

 To sum up, my interpretation of this verse is that we are not to fear those who can kill our physical bodies; for Christians, that would be a win win situation. To live is Christ, to die is gain (Phil. 1:21) If men do not kill our physical bodies, we get a chance to live longer on the earth, spread Christ's gospel, live for Him, grow in Him, and all the other blessings of physical life. If men do kill our bodies, we get the joy unspeakable of being with Christ, our Master, our Father and Friend. 
Rather, we should fear Satan--not his physical presence, because we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us, we have the light of Christ, and in His Light can be no darkness, we have God, the Light, as our refuge, our strength, our fortress and high-tower, who will carry us through and has promised never to leave or forsake us--rather we should 'fear' or beware of the tactics of the enemy to try to persuade us to forsake Christ and serve a master, any master--money, man, fear, addiction, you name it--that will be easy, follow the wide path, but lead to destruction (Matt. 7:13). While as Christians, we do have the power of Christ, and we are robed in His righteousness (Is. 61:10), the enemy is still a 'roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour' (1 Pet. 5:8). And we must beware of him for ourselves and others. 

I hope this post has been a blessing and encouragement to you.

Blessings,
Julia <3