by Chelsea Hertlein

“Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
~ John 14:27(1)

What are your deep fears? Not a fear of spiders or sushi or showing up to a party wearing the same outfit as someone else. I’m talking about the deep fears that live with you and grip you heart in such a way that you feel physically restrained from living the life God has for you. In the next few pages we are going to look at some verses and simple steps toward confessing those fears to God and living a John 10:10 life, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jn10:10. Simple does not mean easy, but don’t give up! Remember Deut 31:6 “…for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Before we go further take a minute, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage to be honest. Write down those fears and face them on the page. If you are anything like me that in itself can be a struggle. Writing them down feels vulnerable and causes you to face them in black and white, instead of ignoring them or making excuses like “I’ll deal with it later when……”

John 10:10 “..I have come that they (you(2)) may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus came to bring us life! Not just some boring life, but a full and spiritually abundant life. Unless you and I are willing to face our fears and bring them to Him, we will never be able to fully experience the life that Jesus speaks of and calls us to. As I have learned, and you probably have as well, facing our fears is not a one-time process. We grow and age and change and so do the fears that grip us. Therefore we need to learn to be aware and develop the discipline of quickly recognizing fear and neutralizing it before it takes root in our heart and incapacitates us.

For quite sometime I tried to conquer my fears on my own. I thought with enough activities or even just squashing them down into the back corners of my heart and mind, they would eventually go away. It occasionally seemed to work, but only temporarily. Pretty soon the fear would pop right back up unaffected by my exertions on it. I realized I had become the dog that chases its tail. No matter how hard I tried whenever I stopped, the fears, like the dog’s tail, were still there. God unfortunately had to let me get to the point of sheer exhaustion and final realization that I couldn’t do it on my own before He could reveal that it is only through Jesus that my fears can be defeated.

In order to defeat the fears in our lives, they must be faced straight on. In writing down your fears, you have taken the first simple step! If you ever played sports or a musical instrument, you know an athlete does not win by ignoring her competitors. A musician does not play music correctly by setting aside the musical score. They both practice and study and train and fail and learn and try again.

What can frighten you in the dark is often harmless when seen in the light of day. Look again at the fears you have written down. Now let’s look at some verses that will help shine the light of day on your fears and hopefully help you in taking the next simple step.

Read the following verses, look them up and mark them in your bible, take note of the context the verses below were written in. What I mean by that is read a few verses before and after to get an idea of the situation and circumstances the verses take place in. The bible was written quite awhile ago, but the truths of God apply today just as much as they did back then. When you strip away the technology and modern lifestyles, our problems and struggles aren't so drastically different now than they were then.

The next simple step is to write down these verses on index cards or in your journal. You can write as many or as few as you would like, or continue searching the scriptures for other verses that will help give you courage and remind you of God's promises. These verses will become indispensable as you submit your fears to God. I struggle to memorize verses and in the midst of a busy day I don't always take time to stop and think on God's word as I should; however I do have index cards of verses in my purse, on my desk, and written in my work journal, so that I can see them and be reminded of what is true.

Read each verse below and do the following:
A. Think about what the verse is saying, don't just skim over it.
B. Write down your own thoughts on what stands out to you about each verse.
C. Write down what God is saying about Himself, about you, and about fear.
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

I had a pastor who said on several occasions, "When God repeats something, Pay Attention!". If you read chapter 31 of Deuteronomy, you'll find the phrases in verse 6 are repeated three more times in this chapter alone. Take a moment to think about that, God knows our tendency towards fear. He doesn't berate or belittle us for it. Instead we see here He patiently repeats to Joshua and to us that He promises to be with us in the uncharted territories of our life and therefore we need not fear, He is not going anywhere.

Psalm 27: 1 “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?”

This is one of the psalms of David. If you know the story of David, you know he had many reasons and people, throughout his life, to fear. Yet as you read through this psalm, you will find a great example in facing fear. He faces it, confesses it to the Lord and then moves on in trust, calling to mind God's protection and provision in his life up to this point.

When fear looms up in us, it's easy to forget the past victories and what God has brought us through. Think back on your life and how God has taken care of you, call those memories up and find verses that will remind you of the truth, that fear will try and make you forget.

Psalm 94:19 “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”

Anxiety has become such a commonplace feeling in the lives of women, that I've found myself and heard others confess they sometimes feel guilty if they aren't worried over something. It is not a feeling that has any place in the Christian life. Consolation can also be described as comfort. Have you realized that God longs to comfort you? Are you willing to sacrifice your anxieties for His comfort? It seems the answer would be obvious, however I've learned that it's possible to take self-centered pride in anxieties and misery and as long we do that and refuse to confess and give them up to the Lord, we can't experience the consolation and joy He promises.

Isaiah 41: 9,10 “…I have chosen you and not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

One of my fears, and that of many others as well, is the fear of rejection. Whether you were the last one picked for a team in school, refused admission to a college, turned down for a job, or been left holding the bag in a relationship - for me it is one of the hardest things to experience because it feels as if you've been told that the very essence of who you are is not worthy. That is why this is one of my favorite verses. God comes along, one who knows every triumph and failure in your life, looks you in the eye and says "I have chosen you", not "I'm stuck with you", or "well there isn't anyone else to pick." Don't gloss over this fact, if we would hold onto this fact and let it sink down and take root in our soul our daily lives would begin to look much different even though not one circumstance in it may change.

Luke 10: 41, 42 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

If you look this up and read verse 40, you'll find it says that Martha is distracted by all the preparations to be made. This gentle rebuke by Jesus is painful to read and seems a bit unjust, if you are a Martha-type. Take the time to listen to what Jesus is telling her. Martha's worries and anxieties about the material issues were causing her to miss out on the words of Jesus and time spent with Him that would still her racing thoughts and bring peace to her heart. I don't know about Martha, but for me it's easy for me to take pride in what I can do. I fall victim to the "just a minute" syndrome - "I'll be there in just a minute", "just a minute, let me finish this one thing." It’s possible to "just a minute" your entire day, week, month, or life away. And at the end of the day, the pride that you take in accomplishing tasks doesn't calm the fears and anxieties still running through your mind and in your heart. It is a loving Father that rebukes us, don't be afraid to confess your anxieties and fears to Him and then just sit with Him. As practical as we Martha-types can be, it's interesting that we so easily forget God doesn't need our help to get things done.

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

According to these words of God written above we should have no reason to fear anything on earth because the creator and sustainer of the heavens and earth is our defender. Not only that but verse 16 says, "God is love." Yet everyday we go through our lives weighed down by the fears in our hearts, because somewhere along the line we stopped trusting the promises God has set forth in His word and began doubting His love.

As you have looked at your fears and then read through the verses above, I would like to ask you a question: Do you believe in God or do you believe God?

You might be thinking that those are one in the same question, but they aren’t. A lot of people believe in God, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it changes how they go about their daily lives. To believe God, to believe the words He said means your life changes radically and you actually can be freed from the fears in your life. It means that you stand and hold fast to the promises in His word, even when your feelings are telling you to run in the opposite direction. In regards to being freed from fear, it means that you submit yourself to Him, asking Him to give you discernment to recognize when fears would try and get a foothold in your life. It means that in the process of being freed from fear you find verses like the ones above that you can carry with you to recite to yourself when the fear seems impenetrable, knowing by faith that what God has said is true. There will then come that moment when you realize the fear is gone and instead of heaviness and dread inside you there is joy and lightness and freedom.

It is my hope and prayer that through the working of the Holy Spirit you would be freed from the fears that are holding you back from living life abundantly.

Works Cited:
All Scripture is from the NIV
1. John 14:27 (NIV)
2. Emphasis mine.