3 Biblical Ways to Diffuse Your Fear

Have you ever met someone that has never experienced fear?  No?  Me either...  Fear is a part of life because life has pain, stressful situations and sometimes even danger.  In some cases, it is our perception that is causing the fear and not necessarily an actual situation.  Whether our fears are based on reality or perceived circumstances, fear feels very uncomfortable.  But we can have hope no matter why we feel fearful...

Let's look at 3 Biblical ways to diffuse our fear.

What Does God Say About Facing Your Fears?

The subject of fear might be the most talked about emotion of the Bible.    In fact, some have counted 365 times that the Word of God says, "Fear not".  Not sure if this is accurate, but for the sake of argument that would be a "fear not" for every day of the year!  

The Lord tells us that He will help us in whatever we are fearing, real or imagined:

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, 

Do not fear; I will help you. 

Isaiah 41:13

He will deliver us from our fears:

Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again."

 Exodus 14:13

The Lord will give us confidence despite our fears:

So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. 

What can Man do to me?"

 Hebrews 13:6

Jesus will fill us with peace in the midst of our fears:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. 

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 

John 14:27

God will be our stronghold when we are afraid:

The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? 

The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid? 

Psalm 27:1

When we meditate upon the God WILLS of the Bible, our fears will be diffused.

What are the Ways to Overcome Fear?

Gideon of the Bible was the poster child for saying "what if?" out of fear...

And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”  And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”  And he said to him, If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.  And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so.  Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and 

touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 

Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said,“Alas, 

O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.”  But the Lord 

said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”

Judges 6:14-23

Here we see God answering Gideon's what if by saying "But I will be with you and will grant you success", but Gideon still looked for a sign to confirm this to be true.  

As the story goes, Gideon asked the Lord for two more signs.  God showed compassion upon Gideon's fears and indulged him with the signs he had requested.

Although seeking after signs is probably not the best way to proceed when looking for ways to overcome fear, if we look deeper at Gideon's motives, it would appear He knew that His Heavenly Father would be the means to accomplish all that He asked Gideon to do.  As a result of the fear, He put all of his focus onto God, albeit misguided through requesting signs, but focus on God nonetheless, because he knew he couldn't trust in his own strength, but needed to wholly trust in the Lord's strength.

When Gideon obeyed and moved forward trusting God's faithfulness, He overcame his fear and the Israelites were freed from seven years of oppression.

What seems impossible for us to accomplish is ALWAYS possible with God.

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Luke 1:37

So in what ways can WE overcome fear?...

Holy Spirit Power

The power of God was evidenced not only in the signs the Lord performed for Gideon, but also in the ultimate victory Gideon had over fear.  

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

We who are in Christ Jesus have received the Holy Spirit, and when we truly seek after the power of the Holy Spirit and walk in His ways, we will have the wisdom of God guiding our thoughts, moving them away from fear, and redirecting them to God and His goodness.  Our minds will diffuse any thoughts of fear because God's power is greater than our fear. 

Holy Spirit Love

The Lord showed such patience and love toward Gideon.  He did not rebuke Gideon for His fear, but answered his requests for signs and brought him to victory.  

Even later on in the story of Gideon, the Lord again showed loving compassion to Gideon's troops by giving them a way out if they were fearful.

Now, therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people: ‘Whoever is fearful and 

trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand 

of them turned back, but ten thousand remained.

Judges 7:3

Indeed, the Lord was doing this so that Gideon's army would be small enough not to boast in their own strength so that God's power would be glorified.  BUT it is still striking how the Lord used their fear and trembling as a way to bring them comfort by allowing them to turn back.

And for us, even now, the Holy Spirit brings us comfort by telling us great and wonderful things, especially about God's great love for us.  When we are in tune to the love of God, our fears will be diffused.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 

For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears

 has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:18

Holy Spirit Self Control

Although the Holy Spirit wasn't present yet in Old Testament saints as He is present within us now, Gideon had the power of God active in His life, and not only active in his life, but interacting with him about his life.  In the same way, the Holy Spirit is constantly active in our lives.  Too often, though, we are so consumed with our fears, that we fail to hear the still small voice speaking peace over our lives.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 14:27

When Jesus went to be with the Father, He told the disciples that He needed to do so in order that the Helper, the Holy Spirit could come.  Indeed, when we received the Holy Spirit on the day of our Salvation we were sealed with Peace, peace with God and peace within our hearts.

If we allow ourselves to be fearful, we are wasting the precious gift that has been given to us, a gift that lives inside of us.

This is when we must put on self-control through the Holy Spirit by {destroying} arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.          2 Corinthians 10:5

When we allow fear to rule our lives, we are acting in disobedience to the Father and ignoring the self-control that is ours through the Holy Spirit.

When we recognize the schemes of the devil to try to put us back into the bondage of fear and we respond in the self-control of the Holy Spirit, we will diffuse our fears.

Overcoming Fear and Living By Faith

As we have seen thus far, every part of the God-head acts together to bring us peace when we are fearful.  As Believers in Christ Jesus, during the 21st century, we may not have God's presence in the Tabernacle here on earth with a cloud by day or a pillar of fire by night; we may not be walking along the roads with Jesus as His disciples did, BUT we do have the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us who constantly whispers in our ears, this is the way, walk in it...

We can look to the whole Canon of Scripture to find example after example of God's faithfulness in very fearful things such as  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace when Jesus was right there with them in the fire and they came out with not a burn on them nor did they smell of fire.  What sets this story apart is that these three lived by faith and trusted God when they told the king upon learning of their fate, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king.…"

We must have faith like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and believe God for deliverance rather than believing whatever scenarios our fears have cooked up.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say[a] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his pinions,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

    nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you.

8 You will only look with your eyes

    and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—

    the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—

10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

    no plague come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,

    lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;

    the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

    I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble;

    I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.”

Psalm 91

When we dwell with God through His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us in all things, we will live by the power of the spirit, experience God's love and renew our minds to be like Christ's, a mind that is self-controlled.  In so doing, we will diffuse our fears.

For similar posts, click on the following:

3 Reassuring Reasons Not to Be Anxious About the Future

4 Effective Truths to Preach to Your Anxious Heart

God Has Compassion on Your Anxious Heart

Worry Wort

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