The word fear means, “to afflict with great bodily or mental anguish, distress, misery, a tortured mind.” Another meaning is “anxiety caused by approaching danger, real or imagined”.
Someone once said that “FEAR is False Expectations Appearing Real!” Some interesting quotes about fear and worry…
- “Worry is a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.”
- “Worry and fear are putting question marks where God has put periods.”
- “Worry and fear is the interest we pay on tomorrow’s troubles.”
- “Worry and fear is a form of atheism, for it betrays a lack of faith and trust in God.”
To overcome fear we must first find out where it came from, how it entered man, and then what we must do to eradicate it.
Genesis 3:1-10 tells us the story of the “fall of man” when man fell into sin. After having been deceived by the devil, Adam hides behind a tree as the Lord walks through the Garden seeking him. The Bible says that Adam was “afraid”. Fear had now entered into his life. Man’s first fear is the fear of being exposed, or more simply, man feared God. Man’s authority on the earth was lost or better put was stolen by satan. This lost authority now gave satan access to the earth through the control of “man”.
Man’s fear leads him into a perilous life on earth, unable to deal with his lost state man falls deeper and deeper into terrible sin. One definition of sin is “separation from God.”
As the Lord was walking through the Garden, the Lord knew Adam was afraid. But the Lord did not come to beat on Adam or to condemn him. I believe that God’s heart was broken over what Adam and Eve had done yet, even so, God loved man and desperately tried to reach him and win mankind back. This tremendous act began with the sacrificial offerings instituted by Moses, Covenants, and culminating in Jesus Christ coming to earth to redeem man through the Cross. All of this was an act of love by God to win mankind back into a relationship with Him.
“Therefore just as through one man sin entered the world and death through sin and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” Romans 5:12.
Fear manifests itself in many ways. Here are some results of a person living in fear!
- Anxiety
- Panic Attacks
- Sickness (psychosomatic)
- Jealousy
- Envy
- Paranoia
- Despair
- Depression
- Anger
- Frustration
- Bitterness
- Competitiveness
There are 4 areas in which fear enters man.
- Separation from God (what God says….Eph 2:8-22) a person who is not in a legal covenant relationship with God the Bible says that a man must be born again
- Traumatic Experience (what God says…. James 5:13-16)
- Sickness
- Accident
- Death of a Loved one
- Abuse
- Relationship breakdown
- Business Failure
- Unfulfilled expectation
- Polluted Mind (what God says…. Romans 12:1-2)
- Bad Company
- Abusive words and upbringing
- Negative environment
- Unbiblical teaching
- TV, films, music and books (certain types)
- Astrology, Occult, Clairvoyants
- Religious traditions of man
- Superstitions
- Evil Spirits (what God says…. Eph 6:10-18 & James 4:7)
- Occult activity
- Abuse (sexual rape)
- Immorality
- Transference of spirits
- Curses or a vex
- General spiritual attacks and oppression
The key to eradicating all fear is by a proper understanding of 1 John 4:18 “Perfect love casts out all fear.” Fear is flushed out by perfect love and in this context, perfect love means that when a person fully and completely understands and accepts that God loves and cares and wants good things for the person then all fear will be removed. It’s that simple, yet very few Christians can accept it. Perfect love is more than being born again and Jesus Christ coming into your life, it’s an overwhelming knowledge of God’s great love for you.
You may have great faith in His Word but what about His LOVE? God is love!!! Meditate on this and confess it constantly. Remind yourself of it moment by moment. Tell yourself that you have a God that loves you. A God whose good pleasure it is to give you His Kingdom. A God who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants.
God loves you, friend. Perfect love is a complete understanding and acceptance of this love. Now fear cannot have any power in a person who walks with confidence with God and faith that is victorious and loving.
