By Jason Smith

“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, NKJV)

You know that moment when you first sense fear rising in your heart? We’ve all felt it. It can happen when you look over the railing above a steep canyon wall that descends hundreds of feet below. You can feel it when you hear the sound of a woman screaming, a child shrieking, or brakes squealing. We all know that feeling when our stomach lurches and our heart sinks. I see it on my three-year-old’s face when he tells me he’s scared of the dark. The experience of fear is common to us all.

But is fear always a bad thing? If you hear an unmistakable rattle while hiking in Eastern Oregon, fear can keep you from stepping into a rattlesnake’s nest. If you are afraid of what too much alcohol might do to you, fear may keep you from driving while drunk. Fear of a loss of income may keep you from sleeping in.

So fear does serve a purpose – at times. But fear should not be our default mode of life. We shouldn’t operate hour by hour persistently dwelling on the “What ifs” of life. “What if this goes wrong?” “What if something happens to the ones I love?” “What if I fail?” In the midst of this ongoing pandemic, many Americans have become chronic worriers. Countless bad decisions are made when we are driven by fear. Growing up, I remember my mom saying to us kids, “You don’t want to be a worry wart.” That’s sound advice, Mom.

In fact, it sounds a lot like something Jesus said: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27). In that context, Jesus was talking about those who worry about not having the basic necessities of life, like food and clothing. So if we cannot lengthen our days by worrying, why do we do it? How do we break free from the shackles of fear?

It has everything to do with replacing your toxic fear of loss with a healthy fear of God. Interestingly, “fear not” (or some close variation of that) is the most common command in Scripture, and our need to “fear the Lord” is one of the most common themes. When talking to His disciples about facing persecution for their faith, Jesus put it this way: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). To fear God is to revere Him, to honor Him as holy and powerful. It’s less a cowering dread and more a humble submission to God as the Almighty Sovereign of the universe. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” writes King Solomon (Proverbs 1:7). To fear God is to recognize that only His grace can save us from the worst thing imaginable – a Christless eternity in hell. In a strange paradox, when we fear God properly, we can actually grow in our love for Him. This is because He loved us first and He alone can ultimately deliver us from every conceivable danger.

The psalmist writes, “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday… Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place – the Most High, who is my refuge – no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent” (Psalm 91:5-6, 9-10).

All other fears steal away our confidence, but fear of God instills us with a humble confidence. Why? Because if we know that through faith in Jesus, God rescues us from even the worst thing imaginable (an eternity apart from Him), we ultimately have nothing to fear in this life. That’s how Jesus’ logic works in the statement above. The worst possible thing to happen to you is condemnation from God, but because Jesus washed away all our guilt through the shedding of His blood, believers are set free from fear. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). What can anyone or anything possibly do to one who is secure in Christ’s loving arms? Nothing, ultimately.

The Apostle Paul asks a series of “who” questions to drive this point home: “If God is for us, who can be against us? … Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died … Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:31, 33-35).

Does anyone doubt that people still fear such things today? Paul’s response is emphatic: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (v. 37). Notice that Paul doesn’t say believers in Jesus are barely scraping by while cowering in fear. He says “we are more than conquerors” not because of how great we are, but because of Him who loves us. We are safe in Christ and not even death can separate us from His love. For the believer, nothing can ultimately destroy you or sever your bond with Jesus.

This doesn’t mean we now can throw caution to the wind and brazenly make reckless decisions that would likely harm ourselves or others. But it does mean that we make decisions based on love for God and others, not fear.

If you don’t yet have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I have to ask: What are you waiting for? I invite you to turn from your sin and come to Jesus by faith, trusting not in your good works but in His good work of dying on the cross for your sins and rising from the dead. When you do that, you can have the fear-crushing assurance of being forgiven and spending eternity surrounded by His love.

“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, NKJV). So fear not.

Feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Photo Credit: American Expedition