“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). These are certainly very comforting and assuring words from Almighty God. This verse is both a command and a promise from God to His children. His sustaining love, mercy, and grace are guaranteed to be with us, therefore, we have nothing to fear.
Fear is a lack of courage and inspiration, and it allows doubt and skepticism to get the better of us. According to Webster’s dictionary, “Fear is the most general term and implies anxiety and usually loss of courage.” Fear is one of human emotions. And each of us can be fearful about something at anytime.
Christians have the blessed assurance from God that no matter what we are experiencing, God will never abandon us. And He has pledged his Word. He says to you and me “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). This means that no matter complex the circumstance might be, there’s no need to fear because God is able to help us.
“At some point,” writes Dr Charles Stanley, “each of us will face circumstances that cause anxiety. When we do, we must remember we are God’s children. We have the power to overcome fear when we apply His Word to our lives—remembering that He is always with us and will never fail or forsake us” (The Charles F Stanley Life Principles Bible p. 840).
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7) God has not given to us a spirit of fear but rather a spirit of “power, love and self-control.” Self-control here means a sound mind or self-discipline. Again, Dr Stanley points out that “Fear focuses our attention on ourselves and on things we do not need to consider. It fills our minds with hypothetical situations that all end in defeat and ruination. Eventually, it utterly consumes us.” (The Charles F Stanley Life Principles Bible p. 1469). As Christians we should always keep in mind that God’s personal love and care for us is guaranteed. Therefore, we cannot allow self to get between God and us.
In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul is instructing Timothy not to give place to fear, but instead look to God who gives the power to overcome the fear. Fear hinders faith from operating in our lives. As Christians, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). ”Walk” means to live or to act. Walking by faith means to live with the confident assurance that God “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20). That said, God will go above and beyond what is considered the usual to help us.
There is a most interesting lesson to learn from Jeremiah. When the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem, Jeremiah was imprisoned. While there, Jeremiah’s prayed: “Ah, LORD God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17). Then God responds to Jeremiah telling him “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).
Let God be God. He is the Almighty, who created the heavens and the earth. And since God is able to do that, He “is also able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.” Let us be fully aware that God has super-abundant blessings in store for us when we totally commit ourselves to Him.
Fear gets us no where. It is an exercise in futility. It robs us of our joy and nibbles at our peace with God. Fear is worry, anxiety, and apprehension that something bad or unpleasant will occur. The Scripture exhorts us “The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:5-7). These verses are worth committing to memory. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer .….” Anything means “not even a single thing.” But instead, take everything to God in prayer. God is able to calm all our fears and help us to keep the focus of our minds on Him who is able to “exceed our asking.”
Fear either draws us closer to God or keeps us away from Him because we think we are able solve our own problems without His help.