The Bible says to “Fear Not” 365 times or one scripture for each day of the year. It is arguably one of the most recurring phrases in the Bible. If God says something once, that something is TRUTH! If God says something twice, pay attention. When God says something 365 times, He means it, it is for you, pay close attention, this is something that must become a foundational part of our Christian walk.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. Do you love God? Do you really love God? Do you love Him enough to trust Him COMPLETELY?
Fear not, for I am with you;
Isaiah 41:10
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
This is not a suggestion. Isaiah 41:10 is a direct command from Almighty God to his faithful army… us. This command comes with a promise. Make no mistake, God doesn’t have to include the promise. We are commanded unconditionally to “fear not”, while God mercifully and graciously promises to strengthen us, to help us, and to uphold us with His righteous right hand.
In spite of the command and in spite of the promise, we seem to struggle with fear, worry, anxiety, hopelessness, depression… which are all related. This is the Fear Family.
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
James 2:14-26
Christians know this Scripture. We have studied this Scripture. Most of us try to walk out this Scripture. Faith without works is dead.
My husband and I were staying in a small hotel room. We had spent a long day that was mostly outside with my long hair down. When we got back to the room, my hair had LOTS of tangles… a lot more than normal. I spent a good bit of time working through all those knots and tangles, then I tied my hair back as I normally do and went to bed.
As I was trying to get to sleep, I had this thought come out of nowhere that I had left knots in my hair that were going to grow and multiply and they would become impossible to get out. This wasn’t just a random thought. This thought came with a sense of fear… A palpable fear that I could feel physically all around me. It was so obvious that this was a spiritual attack that I rolled over and told my husband Mike what was going on and asked him to pray with me. After Mike prayed, another thought came to me, “Go brush your hair to make sure you didn’t miss anything.” The urge to get up and just run the brush through my hair because it’s “no big deal” was so strong, but that thought wasn’t anywhere near as innocent as it pretended to be. “It’s no big deal” is one of the greatest and most effective lies of the enemy.
James says that faith without action is dead. If faith without action is dead, then fear without action cannot live either. I’m going to say that again. If faith without action is dead, then fear without action cannot live either.
As innocent as brushing my hair just to be sure would have seemed, the truth is that that would have been putting action to my fear. Fear without action is dead. Fear with action is revived, quickened, resuscitated, and revitalized. In fact, brushing my hair would have been putting action to my fear in place of putting action towards my faith. My fear said that I have knots and tangles that won’t come out. My faith said fear had to leave and peace would come in its place.
My fear demanded the action of brushing my hair. My faith demanded the action of going to sleep, resting in the peace that could only come from God. I chose to go to sleep and rest in God’s peace. The next morning, I had a very normal amount of tangles. None of my fears materialized.
I was able to make the right choice in that moment in large part because I was able to see behind the veil and recognize what was happening in the spirit realm. There are other times when I fall for the trap of the enemy because I am not reading the spirit realm and looking behind the veil, and the urge to do something that’s “no big deal” is just too inviting. It will put my mind at ease, I tell myself, except that it doesn’t.
Do you know what is supposed to put my mind at ease? God’s power, love, and a sound mind.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Fear is one of the greatest weapons in the enemy’s arsenal. He wields fear with uncompromising precision because he has studied you. He knows you… sometimes better than you know yourself because he caused the trauma that happened before your earliest memories. That’s why we don’t wrestle flesh and blood because flesh and blood has no idea how painful their words or actions are. The spirit that whispers those words to the worst person at the worst time knows exactly what he is doing. The spirits know all your weakest spots and don’t hesitate to take advantage of you when you’re most vulnerable.
He does the same thing with fear. He studied you from infancy and knows all the perfect times to bring thoughts of fear, anxiety, worry, depression, and hopelessness… the whole Fear Family! Sometimes, he even brings a perfect storm where it seems that you are being attacked in multiple directions from different angles, different situations, different categories, different people all at the same time. In those moments, the enemy can look so big and powerful, but it’s all an illusion. That illusion is all he has. The Word of God tells us 365 times to tear down his illusion. Don’t believe it. The illusion is not real. FEAR IS A HALLUCINATION.
The hallucination of fear tells us that the worst possible outcomes are going to become reality. The truth of faith tells us that even if the worst possible outcomes becomes reality, we can trust in God and know that His grace is sufficient for us. God’s grace will always be sufficient for us. Sufficient means having or providing as much as is needed; enough to meet a specific purpose or requirement. Grace is unmerited favor of Almighty God. That means that the unmerited favor of Almighty God of the Heavenly Armies is committed to provide as much as is needed to meet the specific purpose for whatever I might have to walk through.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked in this understanding.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Daniel 3:16-18
Either God will save me from what I fear or He won’t, but I can trust God whether He delivers me from whatever I fear or not. God’s grace, His unmerited favor, will show up in my life in the amount I need (sufficiency) in any given situation to get me through no matter how dark the situation may appear.
While I’m pulling back the veil on the spirit world, I want to make sure I’m not giving the adversary more credit than he deserves.
As a child, I would often fear that a monster was under my bed. I sometimes slept with the lights on, refused to allow my foot to hang over the side of the bed, and wrapped myself like a burrito in my blanket. I was not spiritually mature enough at that time to realize that all those things were actions fueling my fears. Not surprisingly, my fears grew stronger. Flash forward to 18-year-old me, about to head to bed, I turned out the lights then sprinted across the room and dove into my bed from 3 feet away so nothing could reach out from under my bed and get me.
Did the adversary plant that fear in me as a child? Absolutely. Was the adversary still in my room planting that same fear in me at 18? Probably not.
By the age of 18, I was trained in that fear. I had walked in that fear since early childhood. I was conditioned in that fear. I didn’t know anything else.
Fortunately, by my early 20’s, I had learned more about who I was in Christ. Instead of fearing that something might be under my bed, I dared anything to try to be under my bed. Instead of fearing that something might touch my foot as I climbed into bed, I dared anything to reveal himself as having the utter audacity to try to exist in my space. I had a handful of powerful Scriptures in my back pocket, and I was prepared to use them against any spirit that tried to come against me.
A number of things changed between when I was a young child and when I was a young woman in my 20’s. 1) I became a Christian at age 11. I was a Christian at 18, but I was still learning to walk in the fullness of what that meant. Let’s be real. In my 50’s, I am still learning to walk in the fullness of what being a Christian means, and I have no intention of ending that pursuit of learning. 2) I learned to recognize this was an attack of the enemy. Learning to recognize the attacks of the enemy is a work in progress, but the more I recognize, the fewer traps I fall into. 3) I began to learn Scripture. There is no substitute to knowing the Word of God. This is essential. 4) I learned how to use Scripture as a weapon against the enemy. The scariest words the adversary can hear is “The Word of God says…” 5) I learned to walk in the authority that the Word of God gives to me. 6) I learned to examine everything through the lens of the Word of God.
How do I identify when the enemy is bringing a spirit of fear? If you’re in fear, the enemy brought that fear either directly or indirectly.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
If you’re in fear, that fear has not come from God. It might not have come directly from the enemy. It’s possible that you are habitually walking in the habit of fear, but it’s definitely not from God.
If you’re not sure if you’re walking in fear, are you walking in power, love, and a sound mind? Do you feel secure and restful in the hand of God?
What do I do if I’m in fear? Psalm has the answer.
Whenever I am afraid,
Psalm 56:3
I will trust in You.
Trusting in God sounds too simple to actually work, but faith in God with associated action is all we need. What is the associated action? 1 John answers that question.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18
The associated action is to cast out fear.
Steps to cast out fear:
- Refuse to fear. I have actually said the words, “I refuse to fear”. This is especially effective when I have just gotten some bad news or the situation is very fresh, and I can feel the fear begin to try to come upon me. The fear will stop in its tracks when I declare a refusal to fear.
- Refuse all doubt. Refuse to even consider that God could fail or that fear could win.
- Know what Scriptures support your fight against fear, especially if you seem to fight the same battle with fear over and over.
- Stand in the authority of the Word of God. Read the Bible until you understand the authority that Jesus gave to you.
- Declare what the Word of God says about your circumstances. Remember that the scariest words the adversary can hear is, “The Word of God says…” The Word of God says that there is no fear in love. I am in love therefore fear has no right to my mind or my peace. I speak peace over my mind. I speak victory and peace over my circumstances.
- Decide to walk in faith, hope, and peace while knowing without any doubt that Jesus has already defeated the enemy. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we must know that God can completely change the situation, but even if He chooses not to, I am safe in His hands and will follow His Will.
- Repeat these steps as needed until you have the victory over fear.
- Walk in Faith & Peace!
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27
The world gives fear. The adversary has studied us our entire lives to know the perfect way to present fear in a way that we will want to receive it. Fear is a hallucination. Fear is a lie. Faith in God’s Word and Faith in God’s Promises are truth.
Fear is a lie. Peace is truth. The adversary has no weapon to use against you if you refuse to believe his lies.
Is this what Isaiah 54:17 meant when it says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”?
I believe this is exactly what this Scripture means. The enemy has no weapons that he can use against you unless you give him implied consent by believing his lies.
We must stop believing the lie of fear so we can begin walking in the truth of peace. We must rip off every mask that the enemy uses to conceal his lies as “common sense”, “peace of mind”, or “safety net”, etc. We must reveal the adversary as the liar that he is. We must refuse fear. We must choose daily to walk in the peace that is faith in God’s Word.