Fear Factors

Fear is on a spectrum
Not all fear is the same. We can have a concern about any number of things—and that is normal and fine, no matter what the reason, no matter what the context. And some things we are right to fear—overwhelming things, like the death of a spouse that has cancer or the a close swerve into oncoming traffic. There are many different words for this: stress, anxiety, fear, despair, panic, nervousness, concern, and more. But they all speak to some sort of fear.

God gave us fear to avoid unnecessary calamity
Concern is natural, and we can plan because we are concerned about certain situations. Fear is natural if we are in situations that are immediately dangerous. God provided us with an increase in heart rate and adrenaline so we have the energy to deal with immediate situations if they come up.

Concern and fear are not wrong
Scripture says that we are to fear God, and fear hell and fear disobedience, fear breaking God’s covenant (Matthew 10;28; Hebrews 10:26-31). If we rebel against God, we need to be afraid, and in our panic seek to be right with God. Scripture also says that there are some earthly situations that we need to be concerned about—death and war and hatred and separation and rejection and more. We need to be aware that these things will happen, and take the proper steps to prepare for them (Matthew 10:17; Mark 13:23). The Psalms are full of the writers speaking of their fear and concern—but ultimately it all turns on trust in God. For example, Psalm 22 speaks of betrayal and attack—but also of trusting in God who will make things right.

Fear needs to be balanced with trusting God
Fear and concern is fine, in the context of trusting God. But often we can lose focus on the power and love of God, and the object we fear becomes greater in our minds than God himself. We feel that God cannot help us or that God won’t help us or that God will allow us to be destroyed. We forget about God in our time of fear, and then it is suddenly just us and our fear—and nothing or no one can help us because we cannot cry out to God. But if we trust God, God can lead us through our fears and show us again and again that he is stronger than what we fear and we can rely on him.

We must not fear the wrong things
Although there are things we are to fear (see above), but there are many things that we are not to fear. Things that are not significant enough for us to fear, or things that to fear them would show a lack of trust in God. The possibility of other’s harming us if we are doing good (Matthew 10:28); any situation that God directed you to go to; not having enough to eat or drink when doing what God wants (Matthew 6:25-33); about what will happen in the future (Matthew 6:34) and many other things. If we are afraid in spite of God’s promise, then we are not showing faith in God.

We must not respond to our fear wrongly
Even if we are afraid of the wrong things, we can still set things right if we trust in God to care for us, and pray to him. And, of course, we could be afraid of the right things. But if we respond to our fear in a wrong way—even if we are fearing the right thing, we are still showing a lack of faith. If we allow the fear itself to overwhelm us, then we can respond in many different ways.

Wrong Ways to respond to fear:
Hostility
Hatred
Obsessive thinking about what we fear
Freezing up—Not doing what we need to do
Panic
Sinning against God or others
Turning to other authorities apart from God to help us (such as drugs, alcohol, evil counselors, etc)

How to respond to fear:
1. We need to reject unreasonable concerns that are opposed to trusting in God.
2. We need to surrender our fears to God (I Peter 5:7)
3. We need to pray for God’s help and deliverance. (Phil. 4:6-7)
4. We need to actively do what is right, as much as we know.
5. We need to stand against evil spirits trying to encourage us to fear. (James 4:7)
6. In most cases, we need to confront what we are afraid of.
7. We need to do what we can to put the anxiety out of our mind.

Fear leads to setting aside faith.
Trusting in God leads to setting aside all fear.