“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15
Everyone seems to have a fear of something.
Fear is a natural human reaction of things that occur in our daily lives. It can be something we fear that we never see. Fear can grip us and lead us down a dark tunnel that seems to have no escape. So, why do we fear and what can we do about it?
Noah Webster defines fear as this. A painful emotion or passion excited by an expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger. He is saying that it is not a pleasant emotion but it is an emotion.
One of the hardest things I find about being a human being is the emotions that drive us. I’m not one to cry a lot or be sad but my emotions can run wild from hyper joy to inward quiet. Because of the chronic pain I live with my emotional scale lately has been more towards inward quiet.
Do I have fears? Yes, I do believe we all have them. When I did a search on “why do we fear,” it came back saying this. Fear is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived threats or dangers. I found this very interesting and pretty correct. We often fear things that never come to pass or turn out to be far less difficult than we imagine.
If we know we fear, how can we handle then this said fear?
The best way to handle any fearhttps://all-things-joyful.com/when-we-fear-do-we-sin/ in your life is to turn your life over to God. We cannot control any situation but He can. Our lives may be in disarray or feel like they are lying in pieces around us but He can fix them. The biggest task we have when we fear is letting go of all control. It is amusing to me that we think by controlling a situation we are helping God. God doesn’t need our help, He needs our trust.
What does He say about fear?
Proverbs 29:25 says very directly what happens when we fear. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.” Our safety depends on our trust in God!
This is a verse we taught our middle daughter when she was about 10. We were living in Wyoming and we always had a season of moths. Moths were everywhere and would hurry into the house with you when you’d come home at night. My husband and son would spend a few minutes after we all ran inside just killing moth after moth.
Our daughter was literally terrified. We started having her memorize verses and I printed them out to put on her wall. This verse was a big help. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (Psalm 56:3) Fun fact now is that she is married and living back in Wyoming. She assures me she can handle the moths now!
Fear can bind us and make us so crippled we will not be any good to our God. We will not be able to serve Him or sometimes even function as a human. He did not design our lives to live in this fashion. How can we be released from the crippling fear? We seek God.
Today, if you are struggling with a fear in your life and you know that God is in control, seek Him. Don’t let the evils of fear rob you of the joy of living!