We all use it. Often, we dress it up and disguise it, but we think about it often and even say it out loud. It’s ugly and we need to get rid of it, seriously.
AFTER EARTH
Will Smith declared it his biggest box office flop, yet in the movie he speaks a wonderful nugget of truth:
Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real but fear is a choice.”
FEAR
The four-letter word we need to get rid of is F-E-A-R. I know, no one wants to admit they are afraid, instead we say we are worried, anxious or concerned, but not afraid, no of course not.
Isaiah 41:13, “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” KJV
FEAR NOT
The Bible admonishes, “Do not fear” more than any other command. Does that surprise you? It shouldn’t.
Does fear fly in the face of God? #trust #faith
— Vickie Henderson (@VickiePetzH) September 18, 2015
Ultimately, fear is a lack of trust, a lack of faith. Quite simply, fear is doubt and unbelief. A life-threatening storm was raging when Jesus spoke these words to his disciples:
Matthew 8:26, “But He said to them, ‘Why are you fearful, you of little faith?'” HCSB
THE OTHER FOUR-LETTER WORD
F-A-I-L This four-letter word terrifies me more than the fear-sniffing, human-devouring creatures in the movie After Earth. Fear of failure is paralyzing. What scares you to death? Here is my list:
- AFRAID I WILL FAIL
Situations that challenge or stretch my abilities are frightening. Fear of failure might keep me from even trying, but my dad always said,
‘Tis better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.”
So I usually try. In fact, I am willing to try however hard it takes to keep from failing because I struggle with perfectionism. After all, won’t my efforts guarantee I won’t fail? If only my own standards were achievable. What areas are you afraid of failure?
- work
- school
- marriage
- parenting
- fitness or dieting
- Words with Friends
- AFRAID YOU WILL FAIL
To ensure you do what you are supposed to do I feel I need to control you. I can only trust myself, not you. I want to help you but I am afraid you may let me down. Maybe this sounds a little nuts to you, but ask your children, they can probably relate. How about your spouses or your co-workers or friends? Control freaks have lots of innocent victims.
3. AFRAID GOD WILL FAIL
If I am willing to be totally honest, this is the root of all of my doubt. What if He doesn’t come through or what if He doesn’t come through the way I planned? My worst fears may come true.
NO FEAR
Starve your fears so they shrink. The more you feed them the bigger they grow. Feed them a lot and they get fat. Big, fat fears. “That is near insanity.”
Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” NAS
ONE GOOD FEAR
Fearing God means having a deeply committed respect, love, and reverence for God’s authority and power. It means being afraid of what life would be like without Him and being grateful that because of His love we’ll never have to experience such despair. It means hungering for all that God is and all that He has for us.” -Stormie Omartian
Enough said.
1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” NIV
THE FIVE-LETTER F WORD
F-A-I-T-H overcomes fear.
Like fear, faith gets bigger if exercised and smaller if we neglected.
Unlike fear, faith distinguishes us from the world.
We need not fear.
2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” NKJV
“Don’t misunderstand me. Danger is very real, but fear is a choice.”
I try not to be insensitive or glib when speaking of such matters. In fact, I am afraid I will offend you. Thanks for indulging me the pep talk because pep talk is what I do. Thanks for following and sharing, but honestly, it scares me to death.
Thanks for reminding me Faith overcomes fear life is hard when fear overcomesFaith
Thanks Vickie,
I love it when others are honest about their thoughts and fears. It makes my anxieties feel more normal. Right now, I can think of a number of blog posts that I still have in the que, because I’m waiting to push through that fear, before sharing my thoughts with the world. Thanks for modeling what you teach. And yes, those posts will eventually get published. It’s writers like you who keep me growing and pushing forward 🙂
I probably wrote it 4 or 5 months ago but kept holding it The irony of that now amuses me. Thanks for your encouragement
Thank you, Vickie, for the reminder that faith wins and fear loses. I loved this post and found encouragement again.
I like that-fear loses! Thanks
Fear can paralyze and without faith it certainly can destroy! Does anyone else deal with overcoming fear through your faith, only to allow the fear to creep back into your heart and mind? I do. I often feel God must shake His head when I continue to come back over and over seeking His reassurance. But, He is. Thanks be to God ❤️🙏
Yes! Over and over
Vickie I always love what you say. Kind of funny my granddaughter and I were discussing faith yesterday. Thanks. God Bless you❤️
A beautiful legacy