We are all plagued by fear at one point or another. But often that which we fear can actually become the greatest moment of faith we will ever experience. Think about the great fears of the people in the Bible.
Israel’s greatest fear was Goliath. Through David, that fear was turned into a great victory of faith.
The disciples in the boat were greatly afraid of drowning. Yet Peter stepped out into the storm and had a moment of great faith with Jesus.
I guarantee that little boy was afraid to give up his lunch to Jesus that day. But that fear turned into a great act of faith where thousands were fed.
Just like all of these individuals we can turn our moments of greatest fear into moments of great faith victories by applying three principles when we become afraid.
Stop talking with your fear and start talking with your father
Most of us fall into the trap of thinking that the longer we think about, engage with, and observe the object of our fears then maybe they will go away. But this is not the case.
So what we have to start doing is stop making the conversation about our fears and start making the conversation about our Father.
When we do this we can see change happen. Because it is Him who has the power to evaporate the source of our fears. Just take the example of Jesus when He was tempted.
He did not converse with the devil but simply replied to the temptation with what God has to say. The same applies to our fears. As a popular song states, fear is a liar.
God is a faithful true God. We just have to begin calling on Him and he will start Calling our fears off.
Start a Fear Cemetery
How does the enemy allow fear to cause our faith to fizzle out? He makes us forget all of the fears that God has put to death in our life.
He wants us to be in a continual state of pity instead of praise. So the way to turn today’s fear into today’s faith is to start a fear cemetery.
- buy a journal
- List all your fears on the inside cover
- Write one fear per page until you have listed all your fears
- pray each day that God would give you faith over these fears
- When God delivers you from the specific fear/situation write the date God came through for you.
This journal can act as a sort of fear cemetery to remind you of all the fears that God has replaced with acts of faith.
So that when you begin to become fearful about an impossible situation you can go to your journal and see all the times God came through.
If you want to go a step further you can tear out the page and throw it away. Then when you look at the list of fears in the front and the large number of pages missing. It can show you that if God made all these fears go away He can handle them today.
Remember Fear flourishes on lonliness
- Join a small group that deals with issues your facing
- search out testimonies of people who have gone through what you are going through
- Let someone know so that you can let the stress go
Fear thrives and keeps us captive when we allow it to isolate us. It is when we come into the light of community and other people that fear power over us can turn into great faith. How you might ask?
When we join a small group with people that struggle similar to us we see that there is hope.
Search the internet and talk to people in your church to find out stories of success over the fear you’re dealing with. Sometimes the success stories of others can act as a greenhouse for our faith. Because we see that faith and change are possible.
Another way to evaporate the stress of fear is to let someone know what we are dealing with. As we allow the body of Christ to carry this burden with us we can find the strength to go on.
And also the added bonus that when we find other people that struggle like us it gives us a sense of comfort that we are not alone.