If we’re struggling with fear and anxiety today, there are two important things to remember. 1) It’s not from God. The Bible says that ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear.’ This ‘spirit of fear’ can make a home in our lives, tell us we’re not good enough for God, and lead to us feeling weak and powerless over our own minds. But God is love. And there’s no room for fear in love. 1 John 4 says: ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear’ (v.18 NIV). 2) We’re not condemned. When we struggle with issues such as fear, we can feel guilty and ashamed. God is gracious and gentle with us. He doesn’t condemn us, or take His love away from us because we’re struggling. In fact the Bible says, ‘there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1 NIV). So once we’ve accepted those two things, what practical things can we do? Instead of focusing on the thing we’re fearful about, we need to focus on God. Isaiah said, ‘You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!’ (Isaiah 26:3 NLT). When we allow our minds to wander from God and His love for us, we can end up thinking all sorts of unhelpful things. The Bible also gives us some great advice for how we can change our thoughts: ‘Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). We need to take each thought and then see whether it matches up to God’s truth. If it doesn’t, we need to start replacing our thoughts with the truths found in the Bible.  

What Now?

Every time you feel your mind begin to worry, say the words of 1 John 4:18 to yourself to help you fix your mind back on God.