There is no one on the planet who hasn’t been afraid at one time or another.

We have all experienced it, but there are some who are overwhelmed with fear that something bad will happen; fear to take the next step (whatever that may be); fear of the future in general.

They live in the “what ifs”, or in anxious anticipation of what is to come.

I saw an acronym once that described fear as this: False Evidence Appearing Real.

That’s what fear is. It is something that looks real, that looks like it will happen, when most of the time it doesn’t.

I’m not saying that there are not times when we should fear something.

A wild animal or an abusive, violent person are definitely things that would bring fear.

What we are discussing is nagging, constant fear.

Nelson Mandela said: “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” That is a powerful statement, for it doesn’t say we shouldn’t fear, but we should overcome it.

What does God say about fear? He has not left us without His Word to lean on.

Both the Old and New Testaments have verses that speak of fear.

The first thing that we need to remember is that fear is not of the Lord.

He says He has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 43, the first verse of which says: Do not fear, for I am with you, I have called you by name, you are mine (italics added).

He is not saying “please don’t fear”. He’s plainly saying “don’t”.

Isaiah 41:13 says: “For I am the Lord you God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you ‘Do not fear, I will help you’”.

The One Who holds our hand is the One Who drives out fear.  It is not us, it’s Him!

He is our strength, He is our song, He is our courage for perfect love drives out fear. (1 John 4:18)

If you are a person who is easily afraid or is fearful about something, spend some time looking up passages on fear and pray to the One Who can drive out not some, but all fear.

He will be there waiting for you.

–by Pam Rehbein