Facing Your Fears

By: Emerald Barnes, Author of the Entertaining Angels series
There are lots of reasons to be afraid. Afraid of the future. Afraid of death. Afraid of losing someone you love, but God has told us that He has NOT given us a spirit of fear. (2 Tim 1:7) Instead, God has given us power, love, and a sound mind. So what do we do when fear comes against us? We pray.

Philippians 4:6 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

The AMPC version says, “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.”

We talked about the importance of Thanksgiving in our last posts on here. It’s important to give thanks to God because that’s what activates our faith. Once you thank God for what you’ve asked for, whether you’ve received it or not, you’re activating your faith, which in turn activates God, and it’s important to activate this faith in place of your fears.
 
Fears will keep us away from God. It takes our focus and moves it to the problem, not God. Our focus should always be on God and not the problem or fear.
 
I’ve talked to y’all about some of my fears, and I had to come face to face with my sister and nieces getting the sick stomach a while ago (which honestly is silly, but it's one of my big fears). I wasn’t happy, but I did better than I thought I would. I prayed to God, focused on Him and my faith, and prayed in tongues. That helps me refocus my fear to God. It opens up a direct line to Him, and it prepared me to listen to God.
 
Part of facing your fears means listening to what God has to say. The Bible is obviously God’s Word, God’s mean of getting you to listen to Him, but there are times that He speaks to us directly. And it’s important for us to hear what He has to say.
 
What am I going to do with my life? What if I fail? What if…what if…what if…? Life is full of ifs, but God wants us to get over those ifs and focus on His promises.

And one of those promises is peace. Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
 
In the face of fear, we can stand strong in knowing that the peace of God will be with us. There is no reason to fear anything. Psalm 118:6 says, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”
 
No man can harm you with God on your side. There will inevitably be setbacks. I’ve faced many, but if you listen to God, follow His instructions, you’ll succeed in anything that you do, and you won’t have to worry or fear anything because He’s with you and gives you peace.
 
Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord they God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will no fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
 
I know it isn’t easy to not worry or to refocus our fears. Even I have a difficult time not dwelling on and living in fear, but we have to remember that fear is of the devil. It’s not of God. It’s satan trying to make you forget that God is giving us peace and watching out for us, and satan likes to get loud. God told me once, “The devil is the loudest when we’re the quietest.” I think I've mentioned that on this blog before, but it's so true. When we take our focus off of God, when we stop thanking and praising Him, satan gets loud. He pushes these fears, failures, doubts and worries on us until they consume us and we can’t see past them. He wants us to forget that God is behind the scenes working things out. Satan wants us to worry about things that we can’t control. But as 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” And being with God, living in God’s word, that makes us perfect in love.

So, when we are living in fear, we’re not living in God’s love. We’re living in satan’s word. Fear torments us; God doesn’t. Remember, God has given us peace. We aren’t tormented if we’re living in peace, obviously, but how do we get this peace? Isn’t that the age old question? Trust God, rely on Him, spend time in His Word and listen to Him.
 
I could have so easily freaked out about the sick stomach. I almost did, but I prayed in tongues and let God talk to me. I was resolved to not let satan get the best of me. I said, “Not today, satan,” and kept going. No matter what happens, God’s got your back. He has your best interest at heart, and He’ll give you the desires of your heart.

So, take a deep breath. God’s got this.

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