Everyone seems to fear one thing or the other, fear is a common feeling we all experience at one point or the other in our life. It is a human emotion that is deeply wired into our subconscious mind.
Like pain, fear in itself isn’t bad; it is a natural signal of caution in humans in order for us to accurately judge situations and make right decisions before jumping into it. Fear helps you instinctively protect yourself from harm by helping you recognise when you’re about to do something dangerous so you could make a safer choice.
Although a little bit of fear is normal, we shouldn’t allow it to control our lives. Uncontrolled fear can lead to irrational thinking, behaviours, and worst, spiritual paralysis and death. That’s why it is important to face your fears.
Responding negatively to fear, by running away from it rather than facing it, can be a limiting factor to greatness in life. In the story of the Children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land, when spies were sent out to see the land, the news they brought back caused fear among the people, and they allowed this fear to stop them from proceeding to the Promised Land even though God had promised and proven He can overcome any enemy for them, until that entire generation died off (Numbers 1317-33).
You may also find that your fear holds you back from obeying God and stepping out into His great plans for you. As Christians, we have been given the power to overcome any and everything including fear. We have an assurance in God that all things are possible with Him, and He will always guide us in His wisdom. Hence, we can stand up to it and by reminding ourselves of what God says.
David is a good example of a man who always faced his fears. While in the wilderness tendering to his father’s sheep, He faced lions and bears, and killed them just to rescue the sheep. David at this time was just a 17 year old teenager, but he showed that He was a small boy with a big God. He faced all fears and challenges with the consciousness of God being with Him and giving him victory over whatever might be the source of the fear as he faced it. When he faced Goliath, a giant enemy soldier who all the trained, older soldiers hid in fear from, he went forward with one thing in his mind, that God will give the enemy into his hand, just like God had always helped him prevail with the lion and bear. And did God prove David right? Yes, absolutely! David had victory over the giant, and this victory brought him into the place of fame and glory (1 Samuel 17: 23-58). Don’t let your fear limit you from your own glory, step out and face it.
You might also be having fears like:
“I think God is calling me to go back to school, but that idea scares me.”
“I think God is calling me to start this ministry for him, but I’m afraid I’ll fail.”
“I think I’ve found the man I want to spend the rest of my life with, but I’m afraid of getting married.”
“I know God is giving me an idea to start a very good business, but I’m afraid I might fail.”
As Christians, a lack of knowledge can make us stay longer in problems even though Jesus has conquered them all away, maybe the reason why you are not motivated to face your fears is because you do not know the dangers of not facing your fears. Do you lack the courage to face your fears and take that next step? In this post, let us take a look at reasons why you should face your fears.
Reasons Why You Should Face Your Fears
1. It gives us more understanding of what is real or not
“and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” Hebrews 2:15
Have you ever seen a mirage? A mirage is an optical illusion due to a reflection of light; for example you might see a pool of water ahead of you while driving on a long stretch of road only to get there and discover that it was not really there at all. Our fears most times are like a mirage.
In the scripture above, Paul was describing how Jesus had already conquered the devil and death, and that men are mostly in bondage to the devil due to their fear of death.
Allowing your fears to limit you is like paying rent for a house you aren’t living in. In many instances, when you face your fears you realize that what you feared in the first place was not really going to happen, but was just an illusion based on the assumption in your mind. Facing your fears opens your eyes to see what is real and what is not, so that you are not just held bound to something that is a figment of your imagination and not reality.
2. It helps you to move into your calling and destiny
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
When we want to take a new step or do something different that leads into our divine and glorious destiny, fear will show up, but this fear is not to limit us, it is to ensure we are appropriately prepared by having all the necessary. Fear can be a tactic of the devil to limit you from your destiny.
In this scripture, we see Timothy, a young man ordained to pastor a large church being admonished by Paul, his mentor, not to allow fear hold him back from moving into his calling and fulfilling God’s plan for his life.
Many of us have also been given a vision or call by God that is greater than us, we need not allow fear of our own inadequacies limit us. We can be sure that if it is God leading us, we have all that is necessary and he will help us achieve it. A good example of this is also the story of Gideon (Judges Chapters 6 and 7). You need to face your fears so you can step into your destiny and glory will come to you.
3. It helps to develop courage, compassion and wisdom
Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall you divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. – Joshua 1:6
Joshua was a disciple of Moses, and was made the leader of the Israelites after Moses died. However when God was giving him instructions on his new calling, God said “be strong and of good courage” 3 times just to assure him that He was with him and Joshua had no reason to fear. Each time Joshua faced one enemy and conquered, his courage and wisdom grew, helping him trust God more and conquer more nations. He went from conquering one nation per time to conquering about four nations at once. This shows that as he faced each fear, his courage increased and it built wisdom on how to handle situations into him in the areas that he failed.
Facing your fears helps build your courage muscles. When you face your fears, you start to realize that what you feared wasn’t so scary after all and you build the courage to do more things that may feel scary to you. Now that is powerful! Facing your fears is important for your overall well-being.
4. It leaves room for the devil to exploit you
We are told in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that true Christians are not ignorant of the devil’s devices. Timothy was to teach in such a way that his listeners might “recover themselves out of the snare of the devil” (2 Timothy 2:26). In Ephesians 6:11 we are told to put on the whole armor of God that we might be able “to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Fear through deception is one of the strongest weapons of the enemy.
Jesus reveals to us that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). Most of your fears are a result of the lies the devil is telling you in your mind, his goal is to limit you from moving to greater heights by deceiving you that taking that step will lead to one evil or the other.
Casting down imaginations (not accepting the devil’s thoughts, suggestions, and visions) is a spiritual weapon that you must use to be victorious over the enemy. You must learn to actively fight to maintain God’s vision for you. You must only accept imaginations (thoughts) that line up with the Word of God (2 Corinthians 10:5).
What you fear in your mind ends up becoming a weapon that the devil can use to torment you (Job 3:25), do not give him room, face your fears by confronting them with faith in God’s word.
5. It might be a training for bigger challenges
Looking at David, our perfect biblical example of a man who faced his fears, we can learn that it was the courage he acquired when he faced lion and bear that prepared him to face Goliath. Likewise, God brings challenges for us to confront and overcome in order to stretch and build up our faith ahead of the greater challenges on our path to glory. No difficulty is created to overcome us, everything is for us to overcome and strengthen us for later challenges.
In conclusion, when we run by ourselves we have to face all these difficulties and fears by ourselves, but when we are on our journey with God, and our main focus on serving Him, and people, our fears are dissolved and we can do something wonderful for this world. This is the way, walk though in it, START FACING YOUR FEARS TODAY!
Drop your comments and questions regarding your own fears and experiences while facing them.
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Thank you Haly, I really needed this article. It’s so important to face our fears not trying to escape them. So many times when I decided to go ahead and eccept a new challenge I found it wasn’t so bad and I had a victory with God’s help and praised His name with a great gratitude. Five hundred years ago Michel de Montaigne said:”My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened”. Let face our fears and find there is no fear at all with Jesus our Lord!!!
Hi Iryna, Thanks for your comment and sharing your heart. I am blessed to hear it came in the right moment. It is an every day reminder to me as well. Never fear ‘fear’. Job feared and when disaster happened he said: ‘What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.’ (Job 3:25) We should shake off ‘fear’ and remind ourselves of what Jesus has done for us. Jesus is the Lord and ‘fear’ can not remain in His presence.