When my husband and I were dating we often sat and talked on any one of the grassy campus hills. We attended a small Christian Bible college and it was hard to find a place to chat without public ears listening. During one of these regular nighttime, hilltop conversations we were startled by a dark object moving toward us from a distance. As Steve was asking me what it was, I was already crouched down behind him in silence, using him as a human shield. My heart was racing rapidly and I was so overcome by fear that I couldn’t even get one word off my lips. I had no idea what it was, but my imagination was running wild with one of the worst possible scenarios – a bear, a mountain lion or any other ferocious animal that lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As the object approached, we realized that it was just a fellow classmate walking across the hilly field.
That night I learned the paralyzing power of fear. It wasn’t the only time I have struggled with fear either. Over the years I have allowed many fears to creep up and control me- fear of losing one of my kids or husband, fear of being in a car accident, fear of authority, fear of public speaking, fear of rejection, fear of making a mistake and the list goes on. Every time I have struggled with fear it has stolen my joy and crippled me from living out the call of God on my life.
The interesting thing about fear is that it comes from our imagination. We make up a situation in our minds, start to dwell on it and allow it to trap us. We aren’t even able to function properly because we are so worried about something that isn’t even reality. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man is a snare, but the one who trusts in the LORD is protected.” If you struggle with fear, I encourage you to allow the truth of scripture to increase your faith and cast out fear. The word of God has the ability to transform you like nothing else.
If you would like some scriptures to help you with fear, I recently attended a Beth Moore Simulcast and she made a document of scriptures on fear available to download and meditate on daily. Click here for the download.
