Troublesome Topic: FEAR

By Audry Eberhard

As we embrace the challenges with the Spirit’s help we do not need to fear because we are children of God. (Fear is a type of selfishness because we are making it about our comfort.)

Listen to this list of things that we need not fear if we humble ourselves before the cross ready to nail selfishness and pride where it belongs as something that is dead: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, death, life, angels, demons, present, future, any powers, height, depth, or anything else in all creation (Romans 8:38-39). None of these can come in the way of the very nature of God being revealed in us through His Spirit.

What do we do with fears that threaten to dominate our thinking patterns? Romans 8:37 says that we can be “more than conquerors” over those fears. How? “Through Him who loved us.” Fears are also rooted in pride because we are concerned about ourselves and our futures. I often find myself thinking through all the “what if” scenarios. The only outcome of that behavior is sleepless nights and fighting with myself over giving in to worry yet again. My worrying over the future will not have any impact on the future and it only serves to make my life miserable in the present.

How do we deal with our fears in a constructive way? We know that suffering will be part of our lives, the Bible makes this very clear. In fact, it lets us know that we need to welcome suffering because it is accomplishing spiritual growth in our lives. Does the cross have an answer for a fearful way of thinking? The cross is all about dying to ourselves, so whatever issues of worry or concern over the future are occupying our minds, can only be dealt with at the cross. We need to humble ourselves before the Almighty God and realize that we have no control over our future, we need to confess our sin of worry, and nail it to the cross, realizing that He died and took the punishment for that very worry or concern so that we can experience freedom from its hold on our lives. Every time we give in to those concerns it needs to be taken to the cross (we need to realize the gravity of that sin-it is just as bad as murder or stealing) so that we can experience the personal victory from it in our lives. It may need to be done multiple times a day if you are a professional worrier, but the only way victory over it can happen is to take it to the cross and recognize it as a sinful pattern in your life.

When you get up from kneeling at the cross you are going forth knowing that God holds the future and whatever lies ahead, He will use events in the future for building up your character so He can be seen in your life more clearly. I have spent time rebuking the enemy and his attacks in my life when I should have been humbling myself before His cross where the victory was won over Satan. I need to confess my sin in order for God’s power to be unleashed in my life. The Bible tells us that if we have unconfessed sin in our lives our prayers will not be heard. My rebuking of the enemy was being laughed at because I hadn’t taken my problem to the only place it could be dealt with, because my problem was not a genetic problem, it was a sin problem. Satan will keep trying to get me to think that I am powerless in my ability to deal with worry, but God’s Word tells me differently. Through His finished work I can be more than a conqueror.

The next lesson is: Hurtful Memories Including Abuse