Suggested Reading: Hebrews 13:6

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”—Romans 8:15

Have you noticed as you are reading your Bible, that God does not counsel us concerning the area of fear? He counsels us about a lot of things: relationships and marriage, becoming good stewards, dealing with anger in a proper way, treating others in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord, how to live out our life in a Christ-like way, but concerning fear he does not counsel us he gives us a command. He deals with fear abruptly and does not leave room for deviating. In our reading we might see passages like:

Genesis 15:1; “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Isaiah 41:10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God”

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”  

God cuts fear off at the path because he knows how dangerous fear is. Fear is one of the leading causes people seek counsel and go into therapy because their fear has transformed into a phobia, and most phobias have their foundation in some kind of fear. All it takes is one incident or event to open us up to a spirit, or presence of fear and from there the devil tries to use our momentary fearful encounter as a way of placing a phobia (stronghold) over us in that area.

I can remember an occasion, when our children were growing up that I had two of them with me and we needed to cross the street. As we waited at the curb for the light to change and traffic to come to a complete stop, my little son stepped off the curb too soon. Quickly I snatched him back. I knew it startled him but the danger that awaited him was far more harmful than my snatching him back and startling him. Of course, the woman standing nearby, gave me a harsh glance but I did not care about her piercing glare. I knew my quick reaction had saved my precious son from danger, possibly death so I was not concerned or moved by her judgment.

This is what God is doing for us when he does not gently counsel us concerning fear but deals decisively and abruptly with it. He does as Jude says we must often do for those who are in great danger of losing their soul when he writes, “so snatch some from the fire (1:23).” When God commands that we “fear not” he is snatching us from the fiery darts and dangerous clutches of the devil that try to grab and hold us through the emotion, mindset, and spirit of fear.

One of our little granddaughters is struggling with fear right now. Fear entering in through a terrible storm where the winds were high, and everything was blowing away. She was extremely traumatized by the event and now if even the slightest wind kicks up, she is afraid. Her parents are doing an excellent job working with her on this matter so her fear is stopped before it becomes a phobia, and the devil can trap her in a lifetime of fear and experiencing various phobias that will stifle and steal life and freedoms from her.

Often we will counsel someone that the opposite of fear is courage, when in fact the opposite of fear is trust. For the Christian, the opposite of fear is trust in God. Trusting in his power, his promises, his presence and help, his perfect love for us and believing it is true that perfect love drives out all fear and that includes driving out all our fear based upon his perfect, indestructible, eternal, all surpassing love trusting God will not allow anything to happen to us that is outside his plans for us.

The good news is, as in every other command God gives we do not need to conquer or overcome any fear all by ourself. God is with us to help us. We can confess our fears to him, tell him we need help to overcome them, ask him to protect us from the devil’s traps and, walk closely with him in His word and prayer as we set our mind and heart to have complete victory over fear. Let’s Pray

Dear God, it is true you did not send Jesus to the cross to set us free from being enslaved to anything just for us to become enslaved again. So we seek your help and desire to walk in Jesus power and authority over fear. Grant us strength to trust in you completely and in that way we will be victorious over fear and be released from the cords of fear that seek to bind us. in the powerful name of Jesus we pray. Amen