Overcome Christian Fear through the Word of God

Christian fear is overcome through faith in what the Word is telling us about our God. This is not to say that it is easy, but that our faith in Christ does provide us with a pathway to real victory—if we are willing to learn how to fight the good fight of faith (1Ti 6:12).

However, overcoming Christian fear or fears that are of particular assault upon Christians, requires exposing two main strategies of the deceiver. Just consider the two kinds of legitimate fear that are good and helpful for us to have—the fear of God and the fear that comes from immediate danger—and see how deception weaves a web about them (see Lesson 21: “Fear Not!” in our Workbook or CD/DVD series and the web article “Freedom from Fear”).

1) The fear of God. It is indeed right to fear God—in a right way. Godly Christian fear is respect, honor and acknowledgment of who God is. It is a healthy awareness that God holds us accountable for our choices. But being afraid of God, or of what God may do, or of what God may allow, or of what God may ask of us—these are fears Christians may have which come directly from the enemy.

Being afraid of God rules over the demons (Jas 2:19). We are meant to know God so well, that we are liberated from fear by trusting His perfect love with everything that concerns us (1Jn 4:18-19). This is the true antidote to every fear! And yet many Christians fear God in a wrong way. At the very time they desperately need the calming influence of knowing the Truth about their Father God, the twisted words of the enemy keep them fearful and untrusting (see Lesson 10: “The Father’s Love” in our Workbook or CD/DVD series.)

2) The fear of immediate danger. God has provided the alarm response in our bodies to prepare us for flight or fight in the face of clear and present danger and the Holy Spirit can help us respond “reflexively” in such moments to save lives. However, the enemy is very skillful at tempting us to believe that in every difficult situation God is not really in control of what we are facing—and that we had better do something about it right now! Yet, what is needed is not an immediate rescue from the situation, but a speedy return to trusting God with it.

The real battle is not with a visible enemy (the circumstance), and certainly not with a God who can’t be trusted, but with an invisible kingdom which is trying to capture our hearts through fear (Eph 6:12). Learning to recognize fear as the true enemy will enable us to begin overcoming these two forms of specifically Christian fear. Then we can learn to overcome fear itself by the proven ways God has provided.