Hope to Overcome Fear

By Daniel G

God says Fear Not, but what role does anxiety and fear play in our lives? Do we have control over our fears, or are our fears controlling us? We all have worries and concerns, such is the world in which we live, but our worries need not turn into fear or depression.

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time for everything we may go through in this life; "1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance." There is a time to cry when things get tough in our lives, but that is when we need to look up and see Jesus Christ reaching out to give us peace.

"Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You." (Psalms 56:3)

Not if I am afraid, but whenever I am afraid. Fear will come, it is not an if but a when. God knows the world we live in, and thru this verse He tells us that He knows that fear will be a part of life, but how we deal with it is a choice we have to make ourselves. God says when you fear, then you shouldn't, just trust in Him.

We will experience times of worry in this life, but when your worries starts to manifest into fear, look up and see the pierced hands of Jesus.

Jesus says in Matthew 11 verse 28 to 30 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Heavy laden is to carry a heavy load, to be overloaded with worry, to be overloaded with fear. Jesus says, when you feel like you cannot go on, you can, as long as you lean on Him.

When we feel anxious, we need to pray. When we are unsure, we need to read the Bible. When we need direction, we need to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. When we worry, we need to have faith. When we worry, we need to persevere. But above all, when we have problems, we need to ask Jesus Christ for help.

This book examines the grip fear and phobias have on us, and how we can find real hope to conquer anything the world can throw at us. The Word of God is the foundation of this book, just as it should form the foundation in our lives.

It doesn't matter the storms we go through, there is hope in the midst of our anxieties and fear, and His Name is Jesus.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicolas Gouws
• Release date: Jul 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393610267

Book preview

Chapter 1 - What do we Fear?

People have been fascinated with the subject of fear for centuries. Horror movies are in high demand, because people like to be scared. Personally, I have never understood the attraction to scary movies. I have never seen Friday the 13th, or Freddie Kruger or Chucky, nor do I want to.

If I want to be scared, I will turn on the news.

I can't recall any horror movie that I may have seen, apart from Jaws and Alien, which are not really classified as horror. I have never watched nor will I ever allow my kids to watch Harry Potter, because it is about witchcraft; and no, it is not harmless fun.

I must admit though, if the 13th of the  month falls on a Friday I am one of the first people to make a joke like; do I really have to get out of bed today? It is just another day though, but the society we live in and the fact that there was a movie made about such a day, inadvertently makes us unnecessarily cautious.

Again, it is just another day! But like the 1st of April, Friday the 13th has unnecessary connotations due to the society we live in.

And because people want to be scared!

Just look how popular halloween has become! It is scary to think that for some people, halloween has become more important than Christmas.

Halloween; a holiday devoted to the demonic? Should we really celebrate such a day?

Ghost hunting is something else I don't understand. Why would you want to call up or look for ghosts? Yet our reality TV channels are filled with some ghost hunting program. The other day I saw that you can even now go on a 'scare holiday', why people want to do that is beyond me.

As you can see, I can write a lot about this type of fear, but this book has more to do with fear and anxiety brought on by circumstances, rather than the fear brought on by a 'love' of fear.

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So what is the fear I am referring to and what do we fear?

Fear can be something that a random thought in our mind initiates, something that we perceive as danger. Fear can be the many phobias we as mankind perceive as something to be anxious about. Fear can be as a result of the circumstances we find our self in, such as a problem in our finances, our marriages etc. When we worry about something, fear can overwhelm us.

It is something that scares you, something that worries you, something that tells you to watch out. Fear can be healthy if handled correctly, but if the fear we feel start to control the majority of our thoughts, that is when we need to take control.

Fear often starts with an anxiety attack, disguised as a fireball in the pit of your stomach. A fireball out to destroy you. A fireball that quickly spreads to your chest, making it hard to breathe. You start sweating in the middle of winter. You can't sleep because the fireball's timing stinks, and the fear has no regard for your busy schedule the next day.

I know about fear and anxiety, I know how it feels to stay awake the whole night, fighting, or rather, trying to fight the fearful thoughts. I know how it feels to silence the alarm clock, only to realize that you probably only sleep an hour in total. But, I also know how I got thru it.

Let's take a look at what fear is.  

Dictionary.com expresses fear as:

a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.

a specific instance of or propensity for such a feeling: an abnormal fear of heights.

concern or anxiety; solicitude: a fear for someone's safety.

reverential awe, especially toward God: the fear of God.

something that causes feelings of dread or apprehension; something a person is afraid of: Cancer is a common fear.

anticipation of the possibility that something unpleasant will occur: Having grown up during the Great Depression, he had a constant fear of running out of money.

All these are great explanations of what fear is, but do you see the common denominator; a feeling. Fear is a feeling that something is wrong, it is a feeling of concern, a feeling of dread, a feeling that something bad might happen. Another word to take note of here is 'might'. Fear gives you a 'feeling' that something 'might' happen, even if there is no evidence that it will. So, you fear because you had a feeling that something might happen. It might happen that you fall into a hole and be swallowed up by some unknown creature that lives in that hole, but it might also happen that you are imagining it all and that there is nothing to fear. You will die one day, everyone does, that is just how it is, but only God knows when you will die, so why do you live in constant fear of death?

People often fear the unknown, even if there is no basis for that fear. Fear can therefore be imagined. Some people live in fear their whole lives, when there is really no evidence that they have something to fear.

I read somewhere that the acronym for fear is said to be; FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real

There are many real dangers in the world which includes terrorism and crime. These are not false fears as described above, but real threats to be taken seriously, but living in fear still remains a choice. As people we have to be aware of the dangers of terrorism and crime, to act as if it doesn't exist could be construed as foolish. But living in fear of it rather than to put our trust in God is even more foolish.

The economy is not so healthy at the moment, so we fear our future, and those of our kids. We start to fear as soon as something is not what we are used to. We fear when our spouse is 5 minutes late, what if they found someone else?

Fear can be as a result of emotional distress that we may have experienced before, it could be something serious. While fears like these could be serious and in need of medical treatment, I still maintain that any fear can be taken to the mighty hand of God, who will take us thru our pain. Don't neglect going to a doctor, but never neglect calling to God for help.

Fear is an emotion brought on by our circumstances and what we perceive as a threat. In most literature on fear, it is said that fear is normal and a needed emotion to deal with difficult situations. It is said that fear teaches us how to deal with situations that are unfamiliar or difficult.

While fear may be a normal emotion for certain circumstances, it is how we deal with that fear that will dictate how long we stay with that fear. The Word of God says a lot about the subject, and we will examine the Bible as we go on.

People also feared in bible times, but God always had the same command and advice; do not fear! So, as people we always had fears, but the few fears people had at that time grew into an ever increasing list of fears and phobias today. Jesus also spoke about a common fear we all have, as He said we should not worry what we are to eat or what we are to wear, but trust in God.

But yet, people still fear, and even develop names to explain their fears and phobias, you will be amazed when you see the list later on in this chapter.

I often hear fear being classified into three main categories; fear of the past, fear of the present, and fear of the future. I don't know if that is true but I can answer it like this:

The past is history which you cannot change, so why fear what you can't change?

The future is a mystery and is not yet written, so why fear those things which has not happened and may never happen?

The present offers you a choice, live in fear of your circumstances, or consider the present as a gift from God, so why fear if God has giving you this day and is in control of it?

The website thesaurus.com shows the following words as synonyms for the word fear:

Abhorrence, Agitation, Angst, Anxiety, Aversion, Awe, Bête Noire, Chickenheartedness, Cold Feet, Cold Sweat, Concern, Consternation, Cowardice, Creeps, Despair, Discomposure, Dismay, Disquietude, Distress, Doubt, Dread, Faintheartedness, Foreboding, Fright, Funk, Horror, Jitters, Misgiving, Nightmare, Panic, Phobia, Presentiment, Qualm, Recreancy, Reverence, Revulsion, Scare, Suspicion, Terror, Timidity, Trembling, Tremor, Trepidation, Unease, Uneasiness, Worry.

Personally I can associate most of the above words to a time in my life. Be honest, how many of the above words describes your emotions or feelings at this moment, or in previous situations?

If you have kids, you would know some of the above feelings very well. We are always concerned about their future in a world gone mad. We dread their term results, we panic about everything they do, we get uneasy about their choice of boyfriend or girlfriend, we worry when they go out, and our teenage children could be a nightmare sometimes.

Right?

If you love sports, I am sure you will agree, some of these emotions also describes you. If our team is dangling in the bottom of the table, we tremble every time they play, and we get agitated with every seemingly 'unfair' referee decision.

When we have to do something we don't like, like attend an interview, we go into a cold sweat.

Oh, and don't you love the word 'chickenheartedness' in the above synonyms?

If you think about it though, chicken hearted is a rude way of truthfully explaining what fear is. When we fear, we lose heart and therefore become unable or scared to handle our specific situation. We in a sense, become cowards and unable or unwilling to handle our circumstances. Some people become depressed because of the worries placed in their lives, while others go thru the worries and become stronger as a result of it.

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Voice of Warning

As people we often hear a soft 'voice in our heads' or a strange feeling you can't explain, and more so if you are a Christian. Some people call it a gut feeling, some call it intuition, some would say they just felt drawn to something, some even say they had this strange feeling that something was wrong. Has it ever happened to you that the phone rings and before you answer you already know who it is? My daughter still freaks out every time I know her mother is calling, even before the phone rings.  Whatever you call this 'voice' doesn't matter, as long as you hear it.

I heard a story of a couple of tourist that visited a game reserve. They saw a pride of lions resting under a tree, so they thought it a good idea to get out of their protected vehicle to get a closer look at the lions, and maybe get a few great pictures. I am sure you can guess what happened, right? The lions jumped up and killed them for a early supper. And of course some people want these lions put down, even when it wasn't anything the lions did wrong.

Did these tourist need the emotion of fear, or did they need the 'emotion' of common sense? I dare to say that most unfamiliar or seemingly difficult situations do not require the emotion of fear, but of common sense.

When I consider this instance in detail, I am sure there was a voice in their heads that said not to get out of the vehicle, even if it was a soft voice. Maybe the wife told her husband that they should rather stay in the car. Perhaps the husband thought the lions were tame, the lions are family of the house cat after all. Perhaps the husband tried to act macho, I don't know.

How it played out, I can't be sure, but I do believe they heard a voice of warning, which they ignored.

Another example of Spirit guidance could be concerning your house. Lets imagine a hypothetical situation of seeing an unfamiliar or suspicious car parked in front of your house as you are returning from work, do you need to be fearful as you stop in your driveway, and scared when you get out to open the gate? Or, do you need Spiritual guidance to rather drive past and phone the security company, your husband, or even the police?

Imagine for a minute, you are about to sign a contract for a new business dealing, but something feels off. While the new contract could bring in a lot of money for your business, you just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. This could be a warning to stay away from this deal. You choose to ignore the feeling because the money is too good to pass on. You can imagine what happens next, the new business deal sinks your business, because the other party disappears with the money they owe you.

Yes, fear can be helpful if used correctly, because that voice of 'fear' you hear, could be the Holy Spirit warning you of impending danger. If we then refuse to listen to that voice of warning, that is when full blown fear and anxiety could set in, or a lot of trouble which could have been avoided.

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A False Warning

Sometimes however, the doubt we 'feel' or voice we hear, can be completely false and unfounded, because the anxious moment or the fearful emotion could also be the devil trying to have us live in constant fear and not to trust in the Lord's provision. Satan will whisper lies in our ears in an attempt to make us believe the fear.

Here is the important aspect though; we need to learn how to make a distinction between the two, because the one is healthy, while the other can ruin your life. We learn to make a distinction by reading our bible, by praying, and other means which I will speak about as we go on.

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Fears and Phobias

You will be truly amazed of how many fears and phobias there really are these days. There are a wide range of 'common' fears, which are phobias many people suffer from. These include fear of heights, flying, snakes, spiders, enclosed spaces, public speaking, and more.

Somebody once said; I don't fear flying, I fear crashing. This may actually explain why people fear flying.

There are also some uncommon phobias, some of which I never thought could be a fear. These include the fear of water, buttons, needles, holes, chickens, and even the fear of long words.

I heard the story of someone who said she had a fear of dishwashing water. She could never wash the dirty dishes because of her 'fear'. Perhaps I should 'develop' the fear of taking out the trash? Whatever you may fear, chances are there is already a name for it. Whatever you fear and whatever the name of that fear is, you don't have to fear it, Jesus can and wants to heal you from that fear, because fear is a choice.

By the time of writing this, the top ten searched for fears on Google were:

Failure

Death

God

Bees

Holes

Heights

Poison

Long Words

Snakes

Clowns

Let's have a look at some of these.

1) Fear of Failure.

People fear failure, because they might have failed in something long ago. We all experience failure sometimes, it does not mean we should expect to fail every time. People also fear that they have failed if they cannot compete with their neighbor.

We have become such a competitive and stressful society, where