Overcoming Fear!

Fear. We all experience it from time to time; and I believe that every Christian, at one time or another has had an issue with fear. It is the single biggest problem that most of us face. Anyone who knows God knows fear means to be afraid). Some of our fears are obvious. Some of us have fear of failure, fear of not living up to some standard, fear of the future, fear of judgment, fear of criticism, fear of man, fear of everything.

I don't know about you, but I have fears to overcome; and when it comes to fears, I tend to avoid the situations or things I fear. But this doesn't help me overcome fear — in fact, it can be the reverse. But another fact we must consider is that fear is also a spiritual matter --- and the Bible has much to say about fear. But the biblical story of Gideon encourages those of us with fears that keep us up at night.

Scriptural example: Gideon

In the book of Judges, Gideon himself had some fear. Gideon as a fearful man hiding from the marauding Midianites in a wine press when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him. ¹¹ Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”  Judges 6:11-12 (NKJV)
 
As we read about Gideon, we see that he himself had some fear. Gideon feared the Midianites. But God loved Gideon and saw he was fearful, but did not criticize him for his fear. God knew that Gideon was filled with fear because of the enemy. Fear is also one of the great enemies of God's work in our life. Fear is an enemy of faith. But in 2 Timothy 1:7 we read, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." From this verse, the word of God is saying that He has not given us a spirit of fear. If God has not given us a spirit of fear, then someone has. That is the enemy of God. But, later, Gideon finally overcame his fear, in part because he asked for signs that God was indeed speaking to him. Gideon overcame his fear by trusting in God. Gideon, who came from a place of great fear to become the deliverer of Israel. 
 
Conclusion
 

We all have fears. But God does not want us to live in fear. But those of us that live in fear, we can overcome our fears just as Gideon did. The way to overcome any fear is to place our full trust in God. God is worthy of our trust! The Bible is also full of "fear not's" spoken to those who will trust Him. God not only told Gideon to fear not, but he also told Abraham to fear not, for He the Lord, was His shield. God also told Moses to fear not; and He also told Joshua to fear not, but to have courage. Let me also say that God doesn't want us to fear everything, but He does wants us to fear the right things. Having a fear of God is a right thing! The fear of God is good. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10 NKJV).