God created each of us with the capacity to feel a variety of emotions. Some people see emotions as a negative part of who they are and try to avoid them, while others see them as a driving force in their life. The truth is that we can’t flee from our emotions and shouldn’t try. Nor should we allow our emotions to rule over us.
In the Bible, we discover God manifests a rich emotionality. The believer has been given the Holy Spirit as the great Helper who, in part, profoundly influences our emotional life. We discover in Scripture that as we cooperate with the Spirit and sound biblical principals, we experience an increasingly vibrant and healthy emotional life.
One emotion the Bible addresses over and over again is fear. Over three hundred times in the Bible, God’s Word instructs us to “fear not.” This leads me to conclude that the Lord desires for us to live fearless and faith-filled lives. This is not to say that all fear is bad.
The Scriptures teach that there is healthy fear and unhealthy fear. Often our embracing of healthy fear and rejection of unhealthy fear are the only things standing between the life you’re enduring and the abundant life God has destined for you to live. What we do with fear matters.
An unhealthy fear can be understood as any fear that keeps you from reaching your full kingdom potential and the fullness of life God has planned for you. It is a fear that causes you to retreat or cower from the purpose and plan of God for your life. Such fear causes you to run away from the love of God.
Healthy fear in the Bible is described as fear of the Lord, which is not terror, but reverence and awe of God’s great power and love for us. Such fear is motivated by God’s awesome power and justice. When we grasp the extent of God’s mercy towards us, we begin to understand how deeply God loves us. When we see God for who He is, full of awesome power as well as love for us, our unhealthy fear of what He might do to us is transformed into reverence and awe before His great mercy. The fear of the Lord is to recognize God for who He is: holy, almighty, righteous, pure, all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-wise. When we rightly recognize God, we will choose His way. In a profound sense fearing God leads us to know Him more fully. God wants us to follow Him out of love rather than unhealthy fear and for our own good.
We overcome unhealthy fears as we think more about God and His love, remember His promises, and focus on His faithfulness. Fear and faith cannot coexist in equal measure. Where fear increase faith diminishes and where faith increase fear diminishes. The key is to choose faith.
It is a privilege to be on journey with each of you. Let’s encourage one another to overcome unhealthy fear by choosing to fear the Lord. When we grow in our faith, unhealthy fear is vanquished. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!