How much does fear play a part in your life? Sometimes fear can be useful, such as when we, or people we love, are in physical danger. Then it can act as an alarm that something’s wrong and we need to get help or get out of the situation. (If we find we’re not recognising dangerous situations, we need to ask God for greater discernment and wisdom.) The Bible mentions fearing God; take a look at Psalm 11:10, Ecclesiastes 12:13 and Proverbs 14:27 for some examples - you’ll come across others too. This doesn’t mean we have to be scared of God. Instead, it means we should respect Him and His will. But the Bible also talks about the type of fear that can overwhelm us and change the way we live our lives. Nearly all of us have some area of fear that we want to break free from, but if we try to do it in our strength, we’ll find it very difficult, if not impossible, to completely remove it. We need to do it in God’s strength. Virtually every time the Bible talks about this type of fear, it’s in the context of ‘do not fear’, or ‘don’t be afraid’, or ‘God calmed my fears’ (you’ll find some examples in Psalm 34:3, Isaiah 41:10 or Joshua 1:9). In Psalm 56, David wrote: ‘When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise - in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’ (vv. 3-4 NIV). So when we’re feeling frightened, for whatever reason, let’s tell God all about our feelings and resolve to turn our fear into faith and trust in Him.

What now?
If you’re struggling with fear, it might be a good idea to speak to a trusted friend or tell your pastor about it. Ask them to support you and join you in asking God to draw close and fill you with His peace.