Fear always chases faith to weaken its strength. No one in this world can say that they do not understand what fear is. We are all driven by fear in some areas of our lives. Fear gives us restlessness and steals our confidence. With fear, we are not able to arrive at the right decision at the right time, but it leads us to the wrong decisions. The Bible teaches us that following God’s commandments will give us a good understanding. The problem with us is that we want to understand first and then obey His commandments. One can not drive a car merely by understanding its functions, but one should hold the steering wheel to learn driving, and gradually our understanding about driving will become real.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
His praise endures forever.

Psalms 111:10

Fear or Fear of God

It will be surprising to know that fear of God drives away all of our fearfulness if we fear God for His unconditional love. People take the meaning of the word “fear” in the world’s context, and they fear God with conditional love. They think that if they are not regular in remitting their tithes to God, then something bad will happen in their lives. Or when we are sick, we take it as God’s punishment and try to take remedial actions. When we do not get answers for our prayers, we assume that God is angry with us.

With these wrong concepts, we try to please our Provider with the provisions He provided us. We want to be regular in paying our tithes. We want to pay the penalty for our sins so that God may take away our sickness. To derive an answer for our prayers, we try to live at peace with everyone (even with the devil). By doing this, we value the things He created greater than Him. We forget the grace of our creator and behave like gentiles who worship His creations rather than Him.

Fear of People

A constant fear of what people think about us irrespective of our good or bad gestures makes people cautious enough to satisfy other’s expectations in their lives. Doing this, we may miss out on what God expects us to do. As this behavior deviates people from God’s standard, Bible warns us about the consequence of fearing men and assures safety for the people who trust God.

The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

Proverbs 29:25

Fear of Future

People worry about their past mistakes and fear the future. When we think about our future, uncertainty threatens us, and we are frightened. Paul was aware of the truth that it is God who earmarked our place of birth. With this understanding, Paul asked people to rely on God. Practically speaking, we never planned to be born into our families in which we are living. God had planned everything to accomplish His purpose. Jesus is asking us to live our life today, forgetting the past, and trusting Him for our future.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:34

Fear of Mishaps

Because of the hostile environment we live in, we are prone to the fear of untoward happenings. Some even fear when things were going on well with them for months together. Instead of praising and thanking God for His grace, when things are well, they fear and expect some untoward incident to happen. They don’t believe in God’s sustaining hand but fear bad things to happen. We are interested in mishaps in others’ lives. When we show interest, it is evident that we are welcoming such incidents. Our God is a God who fulfills the desire of our hearts (Psalm 20:4).

The lazy man says, “There is a lion in the road!
A fierce lion is in the streets!”

Proverbs 26:13

Fear of Darkness

People are sensitive about bad omens, and are perplexed when they come across such signs. This attitude disrupts their progress, as they wait for clearance through some good omens. Fear about the works of darkness haunts us frequently. These days we find signs of the power of darkness, establishing its regime in this world. Before the surging of the pandemic, we could not recall the hailing of unidentified diseases, and now an invisible virus is shaking the world. It appears as if the power of darkness has taken control of this world. People who think in this way, fear darkness more and more and are struggling to find a way out. Jesus tells us about the days of darkness, and He reminds us of Daniel’s prophecy during this pandemic. When we are not trusting God in the present situation, how are we going to trust Him during the end time?

“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24:15-16

Fear of Sickness

We fear sickness because it weakens our health and drains our savings. Moreover, some diseases are life-threatening, and people fear those terminal diseases. The slightest symptom of illness shown in our bodies forces us to think about the possible threat with all probabilities. Some people take diseases as a punishment from God and cry out to God to forgive their sins. Even after God atoned for our sins through His Son, is He still punishing His people with sickness? People repent when they are sick, and once healed, they go back to their old ways of living. Egyptians suffered ten plagues before the departure of Israelites. Yet, on every occasion, they repented for a while and then turned back to their sins. We can still experience this attitude in our lives too.

During this pandemic, the sickness and deaths we face have triggered hypochondriasis in some individuals. When there is a vacuum in our heart, satan’s lies enter and accomplish his purpose in our lives. In a reverse mechanism, placebo brings healing to people who consume them. While treating the wounded soldiers of World War II, doctors were running out of morphine. In the absence of a pain killer, Dr. Henry Beecher replaced morphine with a simple saline solution but continued telling the wounded soldiers it was morphine to calm their pain. Amazingly, 40 percent of the soldiers reported that the saline treatment eased their pain. With this, we can understand that whether we feel sick or healthy, depends upon our brain’s cognitive function. The Bible does not talk about any placebo effect, but it talks about the real power of healing, springing out from His stripes.

Fear of Death

“The wages of Sin is Death” is God’s statutory law, and God never looks out for a loophole in His own rules. God sent His only Son to bear the punishment on behalf of all the people of this world. Jesus delivered the people who feared death (Hebrews 2:15) by defeating death through His resurrection. When we realize the power of His resurrection, we will regain our confidence and fear death no more. God forgave our sins and is not remembering them anymore.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psalms 23:4

Unfortunately, many seek God not for coming out of their sins but to ask God for hiding their sins to retain their reputation.

Author of Fear

We are all aware that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. In the same manner, satan is the father of all lies and the author of fear. As these authors are arch enemies, their product, both faith and fear, cannot reside together in our lives. Whether we know or not, satan knows that God fulfills the desires of our heart (Psalm 20:4). He persuades us to desire evil things and instills fear in our minds. While God ignites faith in us, satan instills fear in our minds.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

While faith works in that way, fear also works on the same lines. Fear is the substance of things we doubt and the evidence of things we are scared of. Doubts produce fear in our hearts, and fear accomplishes the purpose of the devil in our lives.

Cast Out Fear

When fear manifests its outcome in our lives, we should understand that satan is taking control of us. Because God does not give us the spirit of fear, instead He asks us not to fear almost 360 times in the Bible, which is a sufficient number of reminders for all the days of a year.

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

Spirit of fear, weakness, hatred and a state of confusion are not from God, and these stop a person from taking any progressive decision. Faith gives us power, love, and a sound mind to face every challenge in our lives and accomplish His perfect will in our lives. In the initial stage itself, we should learn to shun fear from our minds by counting on God’s grace.

If we learn to accomplish God’s will by giving Him praises in every happening of our lives, the devil will not gain hold of our lives. We should resist the devil and should not leave any footstool for him. We should have a sound mind and a clear understanding that God wants us to keep us safe and blessed. Satan fooled many believers with the wrong notion that Christian life is full of suffering and pain. God is capable of turning everything that happens in His people’s lives for good (Romans 8:28). Let us praise God for everything, whether it appears to be good or bad, and God will accomplish His purpose in our lives.

in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18