Fear is not a spirit that comes from God. 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control”. Because the devil knows he is powerless over every true believer, he tries to sell two things to them instead; lies and FEAR. Lies, because he knows that when you’re robbed of the truth, he can play on that. Fear, because he knows when your confidence is shaken, your faith too is shaken.

As a believer, there is much more that fear does to you than you can imagine. Fear denies you of breaking boundaries. It cripples your faith, confidence and in the end denies you of your miracle. Take for example, Peter. When he saw Jesus walk on water, he was amazed. He too wanted to try it out and so he asked that Jesus bid him come. Initially, he was walking on water but soon after, fear took a better advantage of him and he began to sink (Matthew 14: 26-31). So abruptly, he let his fear crush his dream at that moment. For most of us, there really is no limiting factor to our greatness, to our ability to break boundaries except that unnecessary fear. Do not place a limit to your achievements by letting fear control you. Do not let fear make you settle for less.

Fear robs you of your peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” …John 14:27. It might be that whenever you are travelling be it by plane, rail, water, land, you are constantly bothered by a troublesome feeling of looming danger. Instead of enjoying the view from above or taking note of wonderful landmarks you keep getting tense over the “what ifs”. “What if this third-mainland bridge should just collapse?” “What if the pilot just falls asleep and forgets to put the plane on auto-pilot?” A journey that should have been memorable, enjoyable and relaxing then becomes a panic show. Fear makes you turn the enjoyable things of life into worries. Why do you cheat yourself of peace by being fearful? Jesus Christ said He has given you the type of peace that is out of this world yet you want to throw it all away because of devil’s tricks? Kick out fear from your life and begin to let the peace of God calm you.

No negative situation ever gets better by being fearful. Being afraid of an upcoming test doesn’t make the test any easier. It only compounds the situation, making you even more likely to flop. According to research, a good number of people with health challenges die not because of the sickness but because of the fear of death…how ironical. There is no need to make a complex situation much more complex by adding fear to it. Really, it’s not necessary. Again because of this same fear, many people have dipped their hands into evil. For example, the fear of poverty is why some people loot funds or go into ritual killings. They are so afraid of not having enough that they do all things possible to keep the money. Another good biblical example of someone who let his fear push him to evil is King Herod. He made a vow to his daughter after she performed for he and his noble guests, that whatever she asks for, he’d give her. But he never expected that she’d asked for the head of John the Baptist. However, the fear of what people would say if he revoked his words pushed him into doing what he knew was wrong (Mark 6:17-28).

The ultimate and most negative of the chain effects of fear is denial. I don’t mean self-denial…I’m talking of denying God. Peter, again, was so afraid of what would happen to him if people found out that he was Jesus’ disciple. That led him to denying Jesus, not once but thrice, the third time even swearing and placing curses on himself (Matthew 26:69-74). Some of us are also like this. We deny Jesus by trying to be ‘neutral’ because we’re too scared of what people would say, we are scared of the names they’d call us, we are scared of what their reaction may be. Let me remind you today that Jesus came to earth, lived blamelessly, yet died like a sinner just so He could make you righteous before God. He did not care what anyone had to say or what would happen. He put you first. Why are you then so fearful of what the opinion or actions of people may be concerning your salvation? Why are making the devil rejoice over your lack of courage?

Honestly, no one really plans to be scared. Sometimes, it is an uncontrollable reaction. An example is the world’s reaction when COVID-19 spread to relatively all countries with spiking number of cases every day. But as usual, God rescues us with His reassuring words. Here are a few verses from the bible on what God has to tell you concerning fear and your fears.

If you are going through difficult times right now and you are just afraid if you’d make it through, God says in Isaiah 41:13… “for I the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘fear not, I am the one who helps you’”.

Or maybe it’s a job interview or something. Deuteronomy 31:6 says “be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you”.

When you are in an uncertain situation, remember John 14:1 which says “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me”.

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8). Now you don’t have to get worried about travelling anymore.

You also do not have to be afraid of death. God says ‘ with long life shall I satisfy you and show you My salvation’ (Psalms 91:16).

You don’t need to be fearful of witches and people with evil charms either. God has got you covered. Jesus Christ says in John 16:33 “I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you will have distress but be encouraged! I have conquered the world”. He put them under your foot since over two thousand years ago. You do not need to be so fearful of mere humans with false powers when you have the God of the entire world on your side…in fact, living in you. “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” …Psalm 118:6 (Romans 8:31; 1 John 4:13).

The Lord again says in Isaiah 43:1 “fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine”. I think that serves as a death blow to fear. Why should someone that God Almighty calls His’ be afraid of anything in this world?

There is never any positive outcome of fear. If you ever find yourself in a challenging situation, back down and let God. Do not ever result to fear. It would only lead you to hurting yourself and doing what is wrong in God’s sight. What is going to change if you’re so fearful anyway?

Basically, we can only boast of this fearless life in Christ Jesus. Outside Him, it is more of an OYO (on your own) matter. Jesus Christ is the only one who gives us such a privilege to live without fearing anything. However, in all your fearlessness, remember not to test God. Don’t for example, walk right into a lion’s den just because God said you should fear nothing. You might learn your lesson the hard way.