Biblical Holiness: Dealing with Fear Pt 1

It is easy to say don't fear or worry, especially if you are the type of person who does not struggle with it. If you do struggle with things like fear and worry, more than likely your brain and emotions automatically work that way and it has been difficult to change. For the person who struggles with fear, just saying that it is all in your head does not help. Hearing others quote 1 John 4:18, “perfect love casts out fear”, does not change how a person's mind and emotions work. Many times the scripture gives us the "what" to do, but does not tell us a lot about "how". In this series we will discuss fear in the life of the Messianic believer.

Fear can be a source of manipulation. Politicians use it. Marketers use it. The horror movie industry makes a whole market of it. Fearful things can be used to control us and limit our choices. We cannot live in a culture of fear and walk in strong faith.

Much of the good that God does is done through us. Being bound by fear stops the goodness of God and the spiritual potential God has ordained for us. Fear produces anxiety, stress, depression, and ultimately has an impact on our health. It also plays a factor in mood disorders.

Fear comes as a response to threats that are physical, emotional, and/or psychological. It can be real or imagined. When fear happens our fight-or-flight mechanisms come into play. Our body and emotions ramp up to deal with a threat. Fear is an emotion. It is also a type of stress. Mentally our response to it may be simple aversion and we will tend to stay away from certain things. Physically we may feel nausea or have an upset stomach, chest pain, chills, trembling, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and/or tightness of muscles. Fear has the potential to cause us to live every day with a sense of being threatened so we must learn how to deal with it biblically and not abide with it.

We do not serve a God who dominates us out of fear but calls to us in love. Not all types of fear are bad. Remember that there is a healthy fear in our relationship with a holy God. Fear is a part of our love and reverence for God. In 1 Pet 2:17 we are admonished to fear the Lord . Fear is also linked to wisdom in Prov 1:7. It is linked to respect for God's judgment in Heb 10:31 and Is 59:18-19. In Ex 19:16 fear was a part of the awe that the children of Israel felt when they saw the majesty of God.

Some forms of fear are not good and the enemy uses this type of fear as a place of oppression. This oppression takes place more in people who struggle with it as a weakness or who have trouble in their past. Our propensity to fear can come from traumas, childhood abuse, or personality issues. Some people avoid fear, but there are also adrenaline junkies and horror show addicts that thrive on it as a source of excitement.

Still there are other forms of fear that are a natural response to life. If a 1,200 lb angry bull is chasing you across a field it is entirely appropriate to scream like a 10 year old girl, wave your hands like lunatic, and run like crazy for the nearest gate. This exact thing happened to my Great Grandmother one day while she was pregnant. The bull chased her into the farmhouse. She, being the eloquent southern lady she was, simply fetched her husband’s rifle and shot the angry bull on the porch…they probably ate good that night.

The point is when you own your fear you also get to decide what to do with it. If we operate out of fear, we will likely miss much of what God is doing in our lives. If we learn to place boundaries on it and walk in faith, our courage will grow, and the mental torment will have less and less control of our actions. The first step is to recognize what is normal and healthy with this emotion. Our purpose is not to minimize or negate the presence of all fear. It is a normal human condition and plays a part of who we need to be in God. Our goal is to limit the hold fear has on our minds, hearts, and actions so that we can walk in faith.

Rav Calev Apostolic Messianic International-Gulf Coast Parler, Rumble, Facebook