But knowing this truth hasn’t shown me how to put it into practice. I decided to take a closer look at the subject of fear. It is important to me right now because it is the giant I am facing at this moment with my pocket full of stones, but it’s also an important subject because of its prevalence in most of people, especially addicts, on one level or the other.
Fear is used more than probably anything else to motivate. We use it on ourselves. I can’t do this impulsive thing I want to do because if I do such and such might or will happen. Fear as motivation is where we get the mostly useless phrase in the rooms of recovery to play the movie through to the end. If I want to drink or drug I’m supposed to think about all the bad things that will lead to and scare myself out of the craving. If it works, then will power would have been sufficient. If it doesn’t…But I’m not writing this to talk about the strange mental blank spot or what it means to be a real alcoholic or addict. I’ll just say that for the “real” there will come a time when scaring yourself with the consequences and playing the movie through will not work.
Parents use fear to keep children in line. Disobey and there will be painful consequences. If you get foolish with a BB gun you might put an eye out. God help you if you run with scissors. You get the idea. Cops use fear to coerce confessions, and guards use fear within prison to maintain control and gather information. Politicians use fear to get votes. Preachers have even used fear to spread the gospel. Instead of the message of grace and the good news of God’s love for us they scream of hell fire and brimstone.
We are taught in science and health classes that fear is a good thing and key to survival. Fears and phobias keep psychiatrists and therapists in full time employment. Fear is addictive. Once it is triggered, we keep coming back for more. But over 60 times the Bible says "fear not." And that is a reminder that like in so many other ways, when it comes to the subject of fear, God’s ways are not like ours.
So as I face and struggle with serious fear I want to try to forget what I know. I need to look at overcoming fear from a spiritual and scriptural perspective and see it as God does. Fear can act as a spiritual plague in my life, and overcoming fear can be extremely difficult. Some of us have to deal with fear on a daily basis. I am not alone in this struggle with fear. Not only are there thousands upon thousands of people who face this issue today, but there were many people in the Bible who also had to deal with fear and learn the principles in overcoming fear. I have to believe that if God said “Do not fear” so many times in scripture that there is a path to freedom from fear and anxiety.
As I searched and studied this issue I found some principles for overcoming fear. Spiritual principles are so much better to me than formulas. Walking with God and living a spiritual life is not about rules or formula’s, but instead it is about a personal and intimate relationship with our Creator. It is God who has the power and authority to handle my fear. So it stands to reason that the principles for dealing with fear also deal with our relationship with Him. It is in the cultivation of that relationship that I will find my own personal path to overcoming fear. And since God is no respecter of persons, what is true for me is also true for others.
The perfect love principle in overcoming fear.
1 John 4:17-19 (HCSB) "In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world. There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us.”
Love expels fear. In this case it is talking about the fear of judgment and punishment. The primary point of this passage is that love casts out the fear of judgment and punishment. However the principle is greater than that. There are many types of judgment that people fear. Not only do some people fear the judgment of God, a fear that even believers can face at times, but there are people who fear the judgment of family members, or peer groups, or society and culture in general. I have feared all of these, and my reaction to that fear has often led to destruction in my life. In each of these cases, love will expel that fear. When I understand that my heavenly Father is not sitting in heaven with a big hammer ready to smite me on the head for messing up, when I truly grasp and believe that truth, then I lose the unhealthy fear of judgment and punishment.
When I get a glimpse of how deep and wide and unconditional the love of God is, then I don’t have to be afraid of some meanie behind the curtain. And it is when I can understand the security of God’s love for me and acceptance of me that the fear of judgment from family, friends, and even society falls away. It doesn’t matter. The reason I fear the judgment of others is because of the fear that I will lose their love or that they will no longer accept me. When I come to understand that I have the love from the one that matters most, the one who will love me unconditionally with no strings attached, then the fear of losing love from others diminishes and I am on your way to overcoming fear.
So how can I apply this principle? I need to come to an understanding of how much God really loves me. It’s easy to understand that Jesus loves the world and died for whosoever. It’s even easy to believe that Jesus loves the other people in my life, but it is not as easy to understand how much Jesus loves me personally. When I lose sight of the truth of God’s love, I need to start asking, seeking, and knocking on the Lord’s door and asking Him to show me both in His word and in my personal life how much He really loves me. Last night as I worked my tenth step before going to sleep, I asked Him to reveal His love to me. This is a prayer that I need to pray regularly for as long as I struggle with any doubt or fear concerning God's love for me and whether or not He is working His best in my life for my benefit. I have to remember I have a personal relationship with Him. Not only do I need to let Him know that I love Him, but I need to hear it back. Just like in a marriage relationship, not only do we need to express love, but we need to know we are loved as well. Ask Him to show you how to see and know that the love He has for you is real.
The trust principle in overcoming fear.
Psalm 56:11 “I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?”
Trust. That’s a huge word. I have so much problem trusting. This is largely due to the fact that I have put my trust in people and been let down or betrayed and the simple truth that I have myself been untrustworthy for the majority of my life. But trusting God is not the same as trusting people. It doesn't fail. He’s not trying to gain our trust so that He can get one over on us, or use us in a bad way or cause us harm. As scary and as hard as it can be at times, trusting God is essential.
It is God who created in us the ability to feel fear. In its proper balance and place, fear is a healthy emotion. I have heard in the rooms that there is no such thing as healthy fear, but that simply isn't true. It is a reflex that helps us protect ourselves from danger. It causes a flight response where we run from the danger or gives us strength to fight it. Fear of being bit by a poisonous snake keeps me from trying to handle Copperheads. Fear of being hit by a car causes me to look before I step out into the street. But when fear becomes unhealthy it causes us to flee from anything that might cause us any risk or to try to fight everything and everyone.
There is a difference between risk and danger. Danger is encountering a mountain lion, and healthy fear causes us to flee to safety. Risk is taking a hike in an area that mountain lions live. Unhealthy fear would cause us to stay at home because of the risk. One is a fact, while the other one is a possibility. If I am to overcome fear I have to understand the difference between the two. Overcoming fear is just as much a battle of the mind as it is a spiritual battle. Unhealthy fear fills the mind with all the negative possibilities to the point that it triggers a flight or fight response. I flee from the risk even though I am not truly in danger.
King David understood this principle. He spent years fleeing a real danger of being killed by his predecessor King Saul. He had a price on his head. David learned the difference between real danger and imagined danger. He did this by putting his trust not in his own ability to protect himself but in God’s ability to protect him, even though he didn't always understand why God allowed certain things to happen. Many of the Psalms are David’s prayers to God seeking why things happened the way they did and why God would allow certain things, but always in the end, David would place his trust in a sovereign God.
Reading through some of those Psalms this morning I am reminded that when I am afraid and confused about things going on in my life (why would God place in my heart a call to ministry only to let me face such a serious and potentially deadly health issue within a few months of that? For example) it’s ok to question God. There’s no sin in crying out “Why?” But in the end, “why” doesn’t matter. I, like David, need to put my trust in God who is in control and sees the whole picture.
In my battle in overcoming fear I have to understand that my fears are based on the desire to self protect. I am trying to keep myself from being hurt. I have to release control. I am going to have to turn control of whether I am hurt or not, even whether I die or not, to someone else. That someone is God. I have to learn to trust Him, not only to keep me from harm, but when harm does come (and it does), I have to trust Him that it was for a good reason that I may never totally understand this side of eternity. To lose fear, I have to let go of the instinct and desire to protect myself from pain. I have to accept that pain also has a purpose in my life.
The principle of Hope in overcoming fear.
Psalm 143 (HCSB) “Lord, hear my prayer, In Your faithfulness listen to my pleas, and in Your righteousness answer me. Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous in Your sight. For the enemy has pursued me, crushing me into the ground, making me live in darkness like those long dead. My spirit is weak within me; my heart is overcome with dismay. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all You have done; I reflect on the work of Your hands. I spread out my hands to You; I am like parched land before You. Selah. Answer me quickly, Lord; my spirit fails. Don’t hide Your face from me, or I will be like those going down to the Pit. Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go because I long for You. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord; I come to You for protection. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your gracious Spirit lead me on level ground. Because of your name, Yahweh, let me live. In Your righteousness deliver me from trouble, and in Your faithful love destroy my enemies. Wipe out all those who attack me, for I am Your servant.”
David was losing hope, and he also became paralyzed with fear. There is a direct correlation between the level of hope I have in my life and the amount of fear I experience. When I don’t see a future for myself then everything negative becomes magnified. I don’t see progress or a plan and purpose, all I see is the bad things that happen, and anybody who always has bad things happen will get fearful. We need to understand that God does have a hope and a future for us. David was being hunted down, and his enemies wanted to kill him. He was getting tired and discouraged. He became honest with God and told Him how he was feeling. In verse 8 (“Let me experience Your faithful love in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way I should go because I long for You.”), he talks about three things. He needed to know he was loved. He placed his trust in God and not in what the circumstances were. He placed his future and his plans in God’s hands. He gave himself and control of his life to the Lord. I have to place the outcome of my future in God’s hands if I am ever to be successful in overcoming fear. I have to hope in His plan for my life. In verse 11 he asks that God would preserve his life so that God would get the glory. I need to place the outcome of my future in the Lord’s hands and let it be His reputation on the line as far as the outcome. Instead of worrying about whether or not it is going to work out, I can place that worry and fear into His hands. He has promised a hope and a future, that His plans for me are for good and not bad. It is time I took Him at His word. It all comes down to where I am going to place my trust and who I am going to give control to.
Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB) “’For I know the plans I have for you’ – this is the Lord’s declaration-‘plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”
The key, I am learning, to overcoming fear is running when I become afraid, running to God. It in is the truth of His love for me, in His power over every situation I face, of His purpose for good that I find the ability to trust Him. When I trust God, I am wrapped heart, mind, body and soul in His perfect love that casts out fear. Standing firm in my relationship with a powerful God who loves me I find that I can face my fear without fleeing it or fighting and just let the wind blow.
Below is an awesome song, "Let The Wind Blow," that reminds me how to handle the storm.
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