Seven (7) Things you should know about fear.

By Fortune

Fear.

Seeing cucumbers, onions and garlics, I kept wondering was this what the children of Israel were always wanting to run back to?

They were familiar with the pain of the past, I mean for 40 years that was all they knew. The slavery, the bondage, the captivity, the lack of progress was all too familiar across an entire generation. Now, God was offering a promise land one that flowed with milk and honey. They were uncertain. For them, it was better to remain in slavery than move into unfamiliar territory. The cucumbers and not so good smelling garlic were preferred to the honey and freedom of Canaan. I realized it was fear speaking through them.

For a long time has plagued many lives, many decisions, many destinies, many believers. 2 Timothy 1 vs 7 is frequently quoted, it should do some magic work as soon as it is said. But some still find themselves struggling with FEAR.

Some months ago, I had so much fear. Fear of the unknown, so many what-ifs it was during this time that God opened my eyes to see what the enemy was trying to plant in me.

One of the lie that we have swallowed is that fear is an emotion, one that has to be expressed because if bottled in, it will burst out one day just like anger. How do you express what contradicts the nature of Christ? Over and over again, as the devil kept bringing fear, the Lord made showed me that I must first understand these seven things to totally keep fear out.

Let’s look at them together

1. Fear is a Spirit

For God has not given you the Spirit of fear … pause for a moment. Fear is a Spirit. Scripture says “ For God has not given”… meaning that anything that was not given by God is and cannot be healthy, good, perfect. For every good and perfect gift comes from God” A spirit of fear controls the environment it operates in causing an Individual to do things enabled by that Spirit. Wonder why people go from just a thought, a remembrance to full panic. God understands the Spirit at work and gives a powerful completion to that verse. “For God has not given us the Spirit of fear, but of love, of courage and of a sound mind”. Fear takes away soundness of mind. Fear reduces your perception and creates illusions which cannot be real. Fear magnifies the negative and diminishes the positive. The end goal; to leave you crippled to its dictates.

2. It quenches the Holy Spirit –

Two Spiritual forces cannot be in control of a man at once. When the Spirit of fear is in operation, it grieves and quenches the Holy Spirit and the action of the Spirit in any life. It is limiting the power that can do the impossible. It is putting a price tag to what Christ can do. You and I know that Christ’s power is limitless. Fear causes a stiffing that diminishes our ability to be opened to the saving truth of God. We begin to see things from a lens that God did not give us. Soon our worldview of what God can do begins to have a sideline. We draw the line with our heart even when our mouth still tries to profess that God can do all things.

3. It causes error –

Error can be instigated by the Spirit of fear. Take a look at King Saul in 1 Sam. Chapter 13, Saul got very specific instructions of what to do for the battle. He was to wait for Samuel ( because offering sacrifices were specifically reserved for the office of the Priest). Here Samuel was serving both offices. Saul after waiting but couldn’t see Samuel was afraid and decided to help the situation. Oh what an error! That error cost him soo much. See error sometimes has good intentions, it is sometimes done with the best of outcomes already pictured. King Saul could picture the enemy already defeating the Israelites. Fear began to magnify massacred bodies before him. He tried to stifle the image while hoping that Prophet Samuel will show up anytime soon. But after 7 days of waiting. Samuel seems to sipping lemonade while Saul was ‘seeing bloody lines’. So Saul decided that he would go ahead and do the needful. Fear causes spouses to act in certain ways to portray they’re still in charge. Sometimes it is fear of being seen as a weakling that makes people hold on to their pride. So instead of apologizing, they shut their mouth. Fear will make one not to think through a decision well. It infuses haste and wants the answer ‘now’. Soon enough the error is committed and the grip of fear is leaves for a while.

4. Whatever feeds your fear has power over you

( sin shall not have dominion over you, Whatever is not of faith is sin) please look at this line a bit closer. Maybe I should write it in bold. WHATEVER FEEDS YOUR FEAR HAS POWER OVER YOU. Paul realizes this when he said “ the Lord is my helper, I will not FEAR what man shall do to me”. Hebrews 13 vs 6. He realizes that man has power, a certain kind of dominating intoxicating power that is distributed based on money, affluence and class. As long as that control is maintained those under it are put in the position that the higher power deems fit. That is how fear also operates. As long as the truth of courage, power, love and a sound mind is hidden the control remains. The man is a victim of what is instilled into him. He no longer sees his power as active. He sees what fear has on him. The fear that has held you Is based on lies, false images, swallowed false beliefs and sometimes demonic strongholds. The moment you refuse to be a puppet that’s the moment your deliverance starts.

5. Fear creates an atmosphere that hinders the penetration of Faith and victory

Let me talk a bit on atmosphere. There’s a Spirit that controls the air. Ephesians 2:2 talks about the prince of the power of the air. Your atmosphere if polluted hinders victory. This is why you must watch and guard against any penetration of darkness first into your heart, then in your surrounding. A very interesting example to illustrate this is staying too long in a cold environment. After a while your body gets a bit used to the cold. Another person coming from a warmer climate would scream for cold at the temperature you can now tolerate and that was the same way you reacted when you first got into that environment. When you stay around the atmosphere that is controlled by fear, before long you start to adjust, start to take it in, after a while faith is almost gone. You begin to rationalize everything, victory is far. “Oh ye of little faith be not fearful but believing”. This was Jesus to His disciples they had encountered a challenging situation one that is able to make any human fear, yet Jesus was telling them faith is a currency they had to trade in. Frankly speaking we don’t always trade in faith.

When I left the hospital after the miracle in 2022, I was faced with recovery. Doctors said my recovery will take months, if at all I ever recovered. There might still be some bouts of symptoms, maybe seizures occasionally. I couldn’t blame them, it was a mystery to them too. So when the words and flash backs come to my mind. I remember Lazarus. Jesus healed him and he had no trace of the sickness after he rose up from the dead. So after I woke up from days of being in a coma, I wasn’t expecting any trace as well. So whenever the fear arose, I was ready; ready with the weapon I know to use best; God’s Word.

6. Fear is a door.

I confess that I am empowered by the Holy Ghost is to do God’s good pleasure, Saul opened up the door of fear, but it brought along with it disobedience, rebelliousness, and a fractured relationship with God. Fear is a door that once it is opened and sustained brings with it discouragement, faithlessness, and so many other things. Shut the door!

7. Fear is an arrow

Fear starts as an anxious thought ( bring every thought to the obedience of Christ) a thought that is clouded by ‘what-ifs’, since the aim is to keep the person round the perimeter of seeing only the impossible, the anxiety increases. Psalms 91 vs 5. Arrows are meant for a specific target, so is fear. Like an arrow, it is aimed at only one thing; that you and I see things outside of God’s perspective. Once it hits, the man is bombarded with alarming, discouraging fearful thoughts of what-ifs.

We’ve shared together 7 things about Fear and that leaves the question; how do I tackle fear?

How do we stay overcoming what intends to make us stay as victims?

But I have the Holy Spirit why do I still have fears that come ?

We will discuss this in the next post “ Overcoming Fear”

What has fear made you lose?, How have you limited God and the mighty working power of the Savior? Fear is real but God’s power is realer!! Fear keeps one in bondage but Jesus has come to bring freedom and a perfect, permanent freedom!!

I do love to hear from you, come back for the part 2 of this. Before you go please leave me a comment.

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