Where is God when you’re afraid? We all face fears on some level. Have you ever considered that fear is faith in the devil? Fear is an awful thing because fear has torment. God doesn’t want us to be tormented, and Satan rules through fear—but God rules through love.
Fear opens the door for the devil to move. It’s his No. 1 weapon. The Bible tells us that Job said, “the thing that I fear comes upon me” (Job. 3:25a, ESV). In essence, Job opened the door when he began to fear. Job feared he would lose his possessions, his children, his marriage and his health. If you keep entertaining your fears, you open the door for the devil to take everything you have.
There is good fear and there is bad fear. There is fear that is terror, and there is fear that is honoring God. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (see Prov. 9:26). The first mention of fear in the Bible is when God blessed Noah and his sons and said, “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand” (Gen. 9:2, NKJV).
God doesn’t want you to be afraid. He wants the devil and his crowd to be afraid of you. You’re the one who is supposed to be putting fear on circumstances and satanic forces; they’re not supposed to be putting fear on you.
The second time fear is mentioned in the Bible is in Genesis 20:11. Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for and took Sarah, and Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife. God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and warned him not to sleep with Sarah. When asked why he lied, Abraham said it was because he was afraid. God doesn’t want us afraid of the devil; He wants the devil scared of us. The devil knows if we get hold of the Word and speak the Word, he will have to retreat.
If you don’t deal with fear, you’ll find yourself lying or doing things you don’t normally do, such as what happened to Abraham, a great man of faith. He lied. His son Isaac lied, too. Once you open the door to a fear, the same fear can come on your children and grandchildren.
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Fear can be a crushing terror and horror. All phobias come from fear. Fear starts in your imagination, then gets into your emotions because fear is progressive. You can let it take hold of you and make decisions out of fear, or you can put your faith and confidence in God. You should rehearse your victories and not move into fear.
In the New Testament there are nine Greek words for fear, and they range from being alarmed to being frightened out of your wits. Believers don’t have to yield to fears. Faith starts with an act of your will, but fear captivates you through your imagination and emotions, then gets your will, and you act out of the fear.
You can make the decision that instead of being afraid, you’re going to trust God. Memorize Psalm 56:3 so when fear rears up, you have the weapon of Scripture: “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”
In faith, surrender your will and trust that God will make circumstance work for you and His glory. Make the decision to look at faith instead of looking at fear, and learn to activate faith when fear tries to come in.
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Marilyn Hickey founded Marilyn Hickey Ministries more than 45 years ago with God’s vision to cover the earth with the Word. Marilyn co-hosts a daily television program, “Today with Marilyn & Sarah,” reaching a potential viewing audience of over 2 billion households worldwide. Marilyn communicates deep biblical truths in a way that is understandable and practical for everyday life.
Sarah Bowling is on a mission to connect everyone with the heart of God while loving those who are overlooked, excluded and ignored. Led by Holy Spirit and anchored in the Word, Sarah seeks to inspire all to know the unconditional and transformational love of God in our daily lives. A Bible teacher, author, international speaker and global humanitarian, Sarah also co-hosts a daily television program, “Today with Marilyn & Sarah.”
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