The first effect of sin in the lives of Adam and Eve was fear, with a feeling of guilt and shame. We fear all that we do not know or are unable to exercise some form of control over it. The demonic forces of the devil try to lead us and keep us away from God by filling us with fear. God equips us to face all challenges in His might and power and be victorious, giving Him all the glory.
Why does a loving God cause fear in us? God created man with a spirit that dwells in a physical body and a soul that links the two with emotions, feelings and thoughts. These are love, gratitude, fear, anger, shame and joy and the others are part of these. Sin brought negative aspects of these to the front while the goodness of God gets hidden. Everyone must go through these emotions during life but fear is the one that immobilises a person and restrains him from achieving what we should. An individual with a close relationship with God, understands His Sovereign control over everything on earth and thus lives life in fear of this Almighty God, while rejecting the fear of all else. The hiding of Adam and Eve in fear from the loving God was about the probable rejection, punishment and the shame of their unbelief and disobedience. God in His love, though fully aware of everything still came looking for them out of love, to restore fellowship and help them realise their fallen state and then leading them to restoration through His grace and mercy. God came Himself rather than wait for man to turn to Him and seek Him in repentance.
The first type of fear we have is the fear of rejection, thus harbouring doubts about the love of others towards us. Since man is created in the image and likeness of God, who is love, being loved and loving others is the dominant emotion in mankind. The focus shifts towards self, away from the God, who provides and blesses us with all that matters the most. The anxiety due to this, brings in efforts to look good, have riches and all other connected things including confidence in speaking before others. Some go into seclusion while others try to dominate others to control them. Most of the crimes are a result of this desire to own what we want to be liked by others.
The opposite of love is hatred and it manifests itself with jealousy and anger. Fear, then, brings in the animal soul to take control and all evil starts. The godly soul, on the other hand, loves God and all of His creation. The two commandments from Lord Jesus are; ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’ (Matthew 22:36-39). The second commandment is, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. We must love God and in the same manner love others, for we are loved and filled with His love. Apostle John, without naming himself in the Gospel, said, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ (John 13:23). He lived with this realisation that he was loved by the Saviour Lord and filled with that love he witnessed all the suffering of the Lord (John 18:15-17). He was at the house of the High Priest, for he was ‘known to the High Priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest’. He was present at the crucifixion also and was entrusted with the responsibility of caring for Mary, the mother of our Lord (John 19:26-27).
When we are fully convinced of the love of God for us, we can also love Him and live with this truth in our minds, hearts and souls. Then, fear of rejection and all else is removed and the fear of the future also recedes. Like King David, we can comfortably declare in confidence, ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You (God my Good Shepherd) are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me’ (Psalm 23:3-6). Since God loves me the fullness of His goodness and mercy shall be on me throughout my life. After this life also, ‘I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever’. With such closeness fear of rejection disappears and life becomes worth living in all circumstances. Apostle John was exiled to Patmos Island, but there also, he received the details of the future plan of God of the End Times. He lived his life telling others about the love of God and He Himself being love (1 John 4:8).
Facing different types of fear – Satan tries all tricks to keep us in bondage to him and he keeps on attacking us through various lies. The second type of fear is the fear of failure and this leads to our worship of success. In certain parts of our country many film stars are revered and temples have been made for them by their fans. This fear of failure binds us to inaction, lack of faith and blaming everything and even God for not helping them. The Amalekites had attacked the Israelites on their move out of Egypt and were condemned to destruction by the LORD God. The Philistines brought the Amalekites with them to fight King Saul of Israel and his armies (1 Samuel 15:18-26). Prophet Samuel reminded Saul about the command of the LORD to Saul, saying, ‘The LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are utterly destroyed’. Saul, to glorify himself, not only took the Amalekites king as a prisoner but the army took a large number of their sheep and cattle as booty. The Prophet Samuel refused to be with Saul anymore and as he ‘turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore’. The final message of the LORD was then given to him by the Prophet, ‘The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbour of yours, who is better than you’. David, yet a teenager, had already been anointed to be the new king of Israel.
Prophet Samuel died and later the Philistines gathered at Shunem to fight Israel and Saul was greatly afraid. When he tried to enquire of the LORD, there was no answer and filled with fear he sought a woman, who was a medium. This witch of Endor was then contacted but in the ensuing battle Saul and his son Jonathan died and the Israelites were defeated. When faced with difficult situations many believers also turn to astrologers and others to seek help in finding a solution. This situation arises due to our ignorance about various options that our loving Lord has provided. We learn from the Scripture, ‘Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding’ (Proverbs 9:10). This is the other side of fear, that is from the satanic forces of evil, but thit fear is godly in nature. This fear is about reverence of the Creator who is fully in control over everything. This fear and reverence of God, leads to challenging every idea that obstructs in any manner the knowledge of God and His love. We are then led to faith in God and His Word, that promises a life with ‘a future and a hope’ (Jeremiah 28:11). In His promise the fear of failure is not there, for the success is in God’s hands and His Spirit in us guides us on the right paths.
The third type of fear is death. When God created man, He used the earthly elements and added into that His breath, the spiritual part to make it a living being. God’s plan was and is, for man to dominate the earthly and perishable while remaining connected to the spiritual. With sin the temporal gained control and the fact already revealed by God, ‘you will surely die’, was fulfilled (Genesis 2:17). With the birth of an individual the one thing most certain is death someday. Job was fully aware of the fact of death to say about a human being, ‘He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue’ (Job 14:1-2). Since God in His mercy has not revealed the knowledge of the day of a person’s death, one keeps looking forward to doing something more. King David prayed, ‘LORD, make me know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am’ (Psalm 39:4). This fear should actually lead us to know, worship and move closer to God, who is the source of all life.
The temporal life ends at death but the spiritual life continues. Various health potions and ways are preached by people to prolong life here on earth. We learn about Abraham’s life from his total life-span as mentioned in the Scripture, ‘And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years’ (175 years) (Genesis 25:7). He truly lived every day to the full, filling his days with life, serving God and others. Lord Jesus has clarified to us the way to live, for no one can in any way ‘by worrying add a cubit to his stature’ (Matthew 6:27). Nor can we add a day to the life span given to us by God. We need to focus on God’s Sovereign status and through ‘fear and reverence of God’, actively fight the fear of death and every other fear. Apostle Paul has also clarified, ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7).
The promise of the LORD to the Israelites and also to the redeemed is, ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it’ (Psalm 81:10). God’s Son did not suffer such pain to forgive our sins only but in every other sphere of life, leave us in bondage to fear and the devil. In every situation, sickness, lack or failure, we need to turn to God in faith and trust in His promises of eternal life in His presence.
God has promised to be with us and help us with His ‘righteous right hand’ (Isaiah 41:9-12). Then He said, even though you will look for your enemies, you will not find them. Further, ‘Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a non-existent thing’. The evil thoughts bringing fear keep cropping up but we have to counter those with the Word of God.
The steps to overcome fear of any kind are simple and we move in faith. First, identify the source of fear, which is invariably some past event. We start expecting similar results in the present situation also. Every trial or a hurdle that comes our way is to train and equip us to receive His abundance. As believers we learn about the essence of God as in seeing an image in a mirror and while we receive that, the indwelling Holy Spirit works in us changing us ‘into the same image from glory to glory’. Fear based on past experiences becomes baseless in light of our present state or relationship with God. With this we can rely upon the love of God and His sure grace and mercy to help us out of our troubles.
Second, identify and confess fear. Fear is the bondage created by the devil in our hearts but when we confess our feelings before God, we recognise and submit to Him. In this manner we open our hearts and souls to reveal the deep inner conflicts in us. This gives us freedom to walk in His protection. Job was fearful of his sons and daughters sinning during their feasts and offered sacrifices for them. After being attacked by the devil, he could say, ‘the thing that I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me’ (Job 3:25). When we allow fear to firstly take root and then rule our lives, the devil gets an opening to bring it about. Such a situation reveals our lack of faith and makes us vulnerable. King David could declare in the most difficult circumstances also, ‘when I am afraid, I will trust in You (God). In God (I will praise His Word), in God I have put my trust; I will not fear’ (Psalm 56:3-4).
Third, choose faith over fear. Adam and Eve chose fear over faith in the love of God and hid from Him (Genesis 3:7). Fear leads to hiding and disobedience but faith fills us with trust, though nothing tangible is yet visible. Moses was already denied entrance into the Promised Land by God. To encourage the Israelites, he reminded them about the Word of God and told them, ‘Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them (the Canaanites); for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you’ (Deuteronomy 31:6).
Our fear of God is healthy reverence but fear of others is worrying about their thoughts about us. The Holy Spirit provides us with the ‘Shield of Faith’ to counter such thoughts of fear from the devil, while remaining focused on God’s presence and protection in every situation. The ‘what if’ thoughts of doubt and fear vanish with our faith in the Sovereignty of God and His control over life and death. Faith leads to determined and God-guided action removing impulsive behaviour. During difficult times we are required to ‘watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation’ (Matthew 26:41). Our sinful nature causes us to falter but we can confidently declare, ‘Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me’ (Micah 7:8).
Submit and receive restoration. Apostle Peter denied Lord Jesus three times but by asking him three times, ‘Do you love Me’, the Lord gave him the responsibility to care for His sheep, the Church (John 21:15-17). Humble yourself to be lifted up by God for the promise of the Lord is, ‘The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground’ (Psalm 147:6). The final word is from the Apostle Peter, who faced fear, defeat and ultimate victory in the Lord, ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savioiur Jesus Christ’ (2 Peter 3:18). Our walk of faith is a continuous climb up the ladder to move closer and closer to the Lord. Only in this way are we victorious in the strength of the Lord.
Fear binds our feet, restraining us, while faith helps us to move forward. Like the father of the deaf and mute boy, we also can seek the Lord’s blessings, to be free from the bondage of the evil spirits and our unbelief. A believer can confidently face the storms, bringing fear from the devil and his forces, holding the hand of Lord Jesus. We receive salvation and also strength to move in faith, overcoming all fears!
