What comes to your mind when you hear the word Fear? Some of us might think about the most fearful moment in our life, some others about the things / situations / people that they fear or the horror movies they have watched, etc. Fear brings to remembrance different things for different people and its intensity varies from person to person. But for everyone, it is an unpleasant emotion. None of us like to be experiencing fear for a prolonged time. Currently, with the world facing the pandemic, many are living a life of FEAR. In fact it would be rightful to say they are under the captivity of fear. How to handle this unpleasant emotion?
Let us dive into the word of God to find clues.
OPENING THE TREASURE BOOK 
The character of Fear
The first time bible mentions “Fear” is when Adam & Eve disobeyed God. God came to meet them in the garden, but they hid from His presence as they were afraid to face Him because of their disobedience to Him. Fear creeped in as a consequence of Sin and that’s how the emotion of fear entered humanity.
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15
Fear is a bondage that works in the spiritual realm. It is a spiritual weapon used by our enemy, the devil, to take over people and bring them under his captivity. Normally in a warfare, the kingdom that wins takes the loosing kingdom’s subjects as captives / slaves. Similarly in the spiritual warfare that is going on in our minds (as we learned in The Armor of God), if we do not resist and give in to Fear, it will enslave us.
So first, the bondage happens in the spiritual realm, and then its consequences surfaces in the physical. Fear will impose us to hide from or flee from the situations that we are afraid of, or the people whom we fear, or from life itself. It will bring about despair, emotional trauma, feeling of helplessness, etc.
Fear enslaves people in the spiritual realm and its consequences surfaces in the physical realm.
Fighting Fear
Always remember
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8
Imagine having a powerful ruler to be with you always, wherever you go. You will be respected like him and also will be privileged in everything because he is with you. You will get extra ordinary facilities that are not available to common people. Because he is with you always, these privileges follow you everywhere you go. So there is nothing to fear or be concerned about as he is powerful and is able to help you out from any kind of situation.
We are in an even better position. Our God is the all powerful God and the creator of the whole universe. There is no other power that is greater than Him. We also know that when we accept Jesus as our savior, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside us. He is with us always to guide us and help us. He will not leave us nor forsake us. So why fear? The all powerful God Himself is with us always and He is greater and powerful than all the dark powers put together. We need not fear and be concerned about anything because He is our God. He will surely help us and uphold us.
The great and mighty creator of this universe is my God who is with me always. He will never leave me nor forsake me, then why fear?
Our Mindset
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.
Psalm 118:6
What can man do to me?
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
We should always remember that God is with us. If God is on our side who can stand against us? The spirit that is within us is the spirit of power, love and of a sound mind, not the spirit of fear. So then, tell your mind – “I WILL NOT FEAR”.
Our mindset should be “I will not fear because God is on my side”.
What if fear creeps in?
Fear can creep in at any moment of weakness. Even the disciples of Jesus feared and cried out when they saw Him walking on the sea thinking it was a ghost. So, everyone goes through moments of weakness in life, after-all, we are humans. So what if fear creeps in and tries to take us captive?
I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
Psalm 34:4
And delivered me from all my fears.
The only way to get out of fear is by seeking God. When you seek Him, you will find Him. God is the only one who can deliver you out of all your fears and insecurities. God alone is the only solution, so seek Him. The bible has recorded many events in the lives of people as an example for us to learn. Let us look into such an example,
2 Chronicles 20
Jehoshaphat was king over Judah for twenty five years. Sometime during his reign, few kingdoms from Syria formed a great army against them to fight them. When Jehoshaphat heard that a multitude of army is coming to fight him, he FEARED!!! Being a king having an army that is not big enough to fight the big army of his enemies, Jehoshaphat feared. What did he do?
He set himself to seek God and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord and to seek the Lord. God assured Jehoshaphat through a prophet not to worry and promised He will take care of the battle. Jehoshaphat trusted God and on hearing this he and all people worshipped God. The next morning, as the army set out for the battle, Jehoshaphat and his people sang praises to God and worshipped Him. The Lord set an ambush against the big army of the enemies and they destroyed each other. When Jehoshaphat and his army came to fight they only found dead bodies with valuables and precious jewelries. It took them three days to gather all the valuables as there were so much. On the fourth day they blessed the Lord and returned back to their homes. There was great joy and rejoicing throughout Judah. They won the battle without even having to fight!!! The lord fought their battle and took care of their situation which would have been impossible otherwise.
When fear creeped in, Jehoshaphat set himself to seek God. He sought the Lord and the Lord delivered him from all his fears and filled him with joy and laughter. Jehoshaphat rightly approached his fear and he was delivered.
So when fear creeps in, seek God and ask Him for help. He is the only one who can deliver us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Our part is to seek God and trust Him, praise His name and worship Him. He will deliver us and bring us JOY & REJOICING!!!
Treasures uncovered
The great and mighty creator of this universe is my God who is with me always. He will never leave me nor forsake me, then why fear?
Our mindset should be ” I will not fear because God is on my side “.
If at all fear creeps in, SEEK GOD and ask Him for help. He is the only permanent solution and the one & only who can deliver us. He will never leave us nor forsake us.
Fear enslaves people and bring them under its captivity, however our God is mighty to save. In fact, only He can bring deliverance. He is the only permanent solution. So Seek Him, Trust Him, Praise His name and Worship Him. He will deliver us from all our fears and bring us JOY & REJOICING!!!
Prayer:
Father, we thank you for being our God. Thank you for teaching us that you are the only permanent solution to “Fear”. Thank you for being on our side. Help us to seek you during times of fear and despair. Help us to always remember that You are with us. Thank you for delivering us from all our fears and insecurities. We Love you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Bible lessons 4 young Christians 