The word "fear" appears no less than 400 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Therefore, I believe it is safe to assume that the Scriptures have something vital to say concerning this basic human emotion.
I strongly believe that we can easily discern what God's will is concerning fear if we extract our information from His Word.
Fear is not a hidden subject in the Scriptures; God addresses it often, and the Holy Spirit gives us a healthy prescription for dealing with it. First of all, let's define "fear," and then we will deal with it according to the Word of God.
One definition of fear is "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil or pain, whether the threat is real or imagined."
When the soul is dealing with fear, it is in an intense state of stress, whether that fear is merely imagined or springs from a valid source. Fear rears its ugly head when a person believes something bad is about to happen, either to himself or herself, or to someone he or she loves.
When the snowflakes of fear begin to fall in a person's soul, they obstruct an accurate view of what is ahead. Fear causes a blizzard-like whiteout in people's grasp of reality, and those who are dealing with an agonizing stress of fear may lose their way on the road toward the truth.
Whenever you deal with the emotion of fear—whenever you are afraid of having cancer, of your children leaving home, of the stability of the economy, of the political climate, of some type of disaster occurring or of a thousand other alarming possibilities in life—you must instantly go to the Word of God.
Immediately default to the truth and the promises found in the Scriptures. Do not allow fear to have the last word in your life; let the Word have the last word! You need to remind yourself of who God is and what He has promised to those who love Him.
The Bible is filled with the promises of God's divine intervention. You must discover what the Bible has to say about fear and what the Holy Spirit's opinion is concerning this ferocious emotion.
"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7, NKJV).
As you are dealing with the stress of human fear, remind yourself that fear is a soul-induced reaction and not a Spirit-led response. Fear does not come from the Father, and therefore, it cannot reside in our spirits. The fear that haunts you day and night, robs you of your joy and leaves you sick to your stomach is not from God. And, if it is not from Him, guess who planted it in your mind? There is only one option regarding its source—it comes from old Mr. Deceiver himself. The return address on the envelope of fear is labeled "The Pits of Hell."
Fear has an uncanny ability to turn a thriving believer into a weakling who is unable to accomplish great things for the kingdom of God. The things of which you are afraid become monstrous giants in your life. Satan desperately desires to scare the future right out of you and endeavors to convince you to see all of your tomorrows from his dastardly perspective.
However, remind yourself that Satan is the father of lies! He is public deceiver No. 1, and he wants to convince you not to guard your heart. He tries to trick you into giving your heart to a spirit of fear. God, the greatest Comforter in all of eternity, desires for you to guard your heart against any spirit of fear and to trust Him completely. The fabulous result of choosing to guard your heart is that fear will never again be allowed into your well-protected fortress. You will be a fear-free believer!
Christians already possess the powerful weapons that will refuse to allow fear to enter into the boundaries of their hearts. The weapons that God has given us to fight off the enemy's advances in the realm of fear are power, love and a sound mind. Fear may be a basic human emotion, but you are no longer a basic human! You are a child of God and are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is never afraid of anything, so refuse fear and get on with your abundant life. 
Carol McLeod is an author and popular speaker at women's conferences and retreats, where she teaches the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm. Carol encourages and empowers women with passionate and practical, biblical messages mixed with her own special brand of hope and humor. Carol has written 11 books, including Significant, StormProof and Guide Your Mind, Guard Your Heart, Grace Your Tongue. Her teaching DVD The Rooms of a Woman's Heart won the Telly Award, a prestigious industry award for excellence in religious programming.
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