There are a couple of kinds of fear. There’s the “fun” kind of fear that somehow draws many people’s attention—the scary movie, the newest roller coaster, the murder mystery novel. But there is another type of fear that is anything but fun.
The crippling fear that many people battle every day, but seldom, if ever, will share with anyone. It may be a fear of illness to themselves or a loved one, a fear of death or accident, or heights, or crowds, or clowns, or darkness, or insects.
This type of fear can paralyze and debilitate. The world labels this fear as a phobia—offering medical treatment to alleviate the symptoms. But God’s Word takes a different approach, viewing it as a spiritual issue and seeks to address the cause.
To that end, here are three practical ways to think biblically about fear.
1. Focus on the Spiritual Battle
In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul reminds young Timothy that: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.”
The context of this passage finds Paul sitting in a Roman prison. Timothy has taken over for him as the pastor of the church at Ephesus. The Roman persecution of Christians is ramping up. Humanly speaking, the church has plenty to be afraid of!
In this verse, Paul is telling Timothy that a spirit of fear is never from God. This is not referring to a rational, healthy fear of imminent danger, but an irrational pervasive fear. He further tells Timothy that the thoughts that are from God lead to a spirit of:
- Power: A Christian’s strength comes from God Himself! Our hope is in Him and His resources, not in ourselves and in our resources. He will keep our hearts in His perfect peace as our minds are stayed upon Him because we trust in Him. (Isaiah 26:3-4)
- Love: This is love from God, to God, and of God. A Christian’s life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:35-39)
- Sound Mind: God is never the author of confusion. And because He promises to keep our hearts in His perfect peace because we trust in Him, panic is never part of the equation. If we control our thoughts and keep the focus on Him, He will help us to think clearly and calmly in any situation.
If fear is not from God, guess who it is from. This verse, memorized and meditated on and prayed fervently will become to our heart and mind what anti-virus software is to the hard-drive of a computer.It helps us identify and reject those thoughts whose purpose is to infect, corrupt, and steal our peace.
2. Focus on God’s Resources, Not Yours
John 14:27 is one of the most powerful truths in all of Scripture. Jesus is in the Upper Room with the disciples. This is the last one-on-one time He will have with them before the Cross. This where He prepares them to become the leaders of the New Testament church.
John 14:27 reads: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Taken in context, this is the Lord’s last will and testament. He has no worldly possessions to leave behind but He is clearly leaving with them and giving to them a priceless gift of inestimable value: His perfect peace. He also clarifies that His peace is quite different from the world’s peace.
The world’s peace is circumstantial. When the bills are paid, the kids are healthy, our team is winning, the 401k is secure, and the cars are running good, we have peace. But let just one of these ducks step out of line and our peace is shot.
Jesus’ peace was and is much different. His perfect peace was based solely on His relationship with His Heavenly Father, never on His circumstances. Our peace should be based solely on our relationship with Him, and never on our circumstances. This is a paradigm shift!
As we learn to view our circumstances through the lense of God’s Word, to see our lives through the truth of Scripture our basis of security shifts from the temporal to the eternal. That’s the plan! God allows trials and tribulations into our lives for the express purpose of helping us grow and change spiritually.
The just shall live by faith, we walk by faith and not by sight, and faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Trials give us the opportunity to learn to view life through the lens of Scripture. As we look to Him as the source of our strength, call upon Him in our times of trouble, cast our cares upon Him and search the Scriptures for Truth relevant to our specific situation we will find that peace that passes all understanding.
3. Focus Up and Out, Not In
A third key to battling fear is found in 1 John 4:18 where John tells us: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; because fear has torment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.”
John is telling us that fear and love are mutually exclusive and cannot coexist. Love casts out fear the way that light casts out darkness. He also tells us that fear has torment and those who battle fear often describe it as pervasive, crippling pain.
The word “perfect” in the second part of the verse means “complete,” such that those who fear are missing a component of love. First of all is God’s perfect love. Daily, hourly, minute by minute meditating on the truth of His Word.
Building our view of life on Scripture, and not just this temporal life but on eternal life. Bringing every thought captive to His Word. Internalizing the length and width and height and depth of His great love for us is the first component of His love but secondly is our love for Him through steadfast trust and obedience. How His words must have stung the Disciples when He asked “Why did you doubt you of little faith?”
The second component of love that may be missing is our love for others. Why is it that a mom who might be screaming from atop the kitchen table when a mouse runs across the floor would give no thought to placing herself between an attacking dog and her child in a stroller? Because her love for her child far exceeds her fear of the dog.
First responders who go up the stairs of a burning building while others are coming down. The soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his friends. Fear causes us to focus on ourselves. Love causes us to focus on others.
Abide in Jesus
As we abide in Christ and He abides in us, it will be His love through us for others that casts out all fear. Greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends.
In 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, Paul give an incredible overview of spiritual warfare telling us that: “Though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh, and the weapons we fight with are not carnal weapons but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”
He first tells us that it is a spiritual battle fought with spiritual weapons. Ephesians 6:10-18 describes the armor and weapons which he assures us will bring down the strongholds of the enemy. Fear is certainly one of the adversary’s most powerful and versatile strongholds, but it is no match for the love of God and the armor and weapons that He has provided to us.
A view of the Christian life is one of endless comfort and ease, much like an all-inclusive resort. A more biblically accurate view of the Christian life (2 Timothy 2:3-4; James 1:1-4; 1 Peter 412-13) might have us see this life as preparation for that life, much as a soldier sees basic training as preparation for a military career.
Fear is never becoming of a soldier or a Christian.