The age of fear

FEAR IS an anxious feeling, caused by our anticipation of some imagined event or experience. In these modern times, one of the greatest challenges we need to overcome is the area of fear. For us to move forward in our lives and receive the blessings that God has for us, the stone of chronic fear must be rolled away. Chronic fear is unhealthy fear. It’s a type of fear that either starts as sin or from some circumstance that we have been in, heard of, or assumed. When it persists, it turns into anxiety and stress. This kind of fear keeps us from doing things we should do and is based on our presumptions and assumptions, and can even lead to depression.

Chronic fear is a growing problem. There are articles about us living in a ‘culture of fear’. In this infotainment era, we’re bombarded by many instances of trauma that lead us to believe that it’s everywhere. We are manipulated to live in fear, which suits big-money industries to keep us there.

An article in the Rolling Stone magazine (‘Why We’re Living in the Age of Fear’) said: “…We are living in the most fearmongering time in human history.” Fear is dominating our lives. COVID-19 caused our fear level to increase dramatically, and our fears continue to be fed, for example, through the media and pharmaceutical companies.

Through Jesus Christ we have the riches of Heaven promised to us, but many times fear stops us from living in the abundant life that He promised to us. The most often repeated statement in the Bible is “fear not”, or “do not be afraid”. It’s recorded 365 times in one form or the other (one for every day of the year).

Fear as a basic human emotion isn’t wrong. God created us with the ability to regard certain dangers with protective fear, for our preservation and safety. When a barking dog jumps at us, for example, that feeling of fear we get is natural and good. Fear comes at all of us. The Apostle Paul shared, “When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside” 2 Corinthians 7:5 (NLT). Fear is good when it steers us away from danger; but it’s bad when it’s allowed to become chronic.

Chronic fear can become life-controlling and limiting. It can arrest our progress, prevent us from taking positive action, and keep us in a dark place. Fear is a good servant, but a bad master. Chronic fear that masters our lives is actually faith in the wrong things and happens when we place our faith in the bad ‘what ifs’ of life. What if something bad happens? We rarely think, what if something good happens? In every circumstance of our lives, we either operate in faith or fear. We all have fears. Fear of the loss of our jobs, health, finances, loved ones; the list is inexhaustible because we all have things that cause us to fear.

Chronic fear is dangerous and tormenting. Torment means that it inflicts physical or mental suffering. Chronic fear also restrains us from experiencing our best and doing God’s will. It sometimes prevents us from using our talents, getting our work done, and having relationships. Fear can cause us to become useless and non-productive. God told Gideon in Judges 7:3 (NIV) “Now announce to the army, Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” We must overcome chronic fear to grasp God’s best.