Dictionary says fear is a natural feeling of alarm or impending disaster.
There are 500 documentated phobias, to include:
Dentaphobia -- fear dentists
Cacaphobia (might be spelled wrong) -- fear of ugliness
Gynaphobia -- fear of women
Isaiah 43:1-743 But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob,
And He who formed you, O Israel,
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are Mine!
2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
Nor will the flame burn you.
3 “For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I have given Egypt as your ransom,
[a]Cush and Seba in your place.
4 “Since you are precious in My sight,
Since you are honored and I love you,
I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life.
5 “Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
And gather you from the west.
6 “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’
And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring My sons from afar
And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
7 Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
Satan loves to use fear to make us stumble.
You could live in a state of fear all the time.
Fear is just fear (it's not bad or good). It is what you do with it, how you react to that makes it positive or negative.
In positive terms, fear can help you be more alert, more careful.
In negative terms, Fear will freeze you up or keep you from doing what you need to do.
Fear not is the most common command in the Bible. We need to hear it over and over.
Why we shouldn't fear:
#1 People of God should not have fear because we belong to God:
Psalm 139:16:
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
#2 We are redeemed by God.
Galatians 3:13:
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a [a]tree”--
Children run to Mom and Dad to be safe. We need to do the same thing with Father God when we're scared.
1 Peter 2:9:
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
#3 Don't fear because God is with us.
Matthew 28:20:
" I am with you [a]always, even to the end of the age"
In Romans 8 we are told that If God is for us who can be against us?
When we couldn't He did it all.We have an abundance of "back up.'
I'm not invinsible but God is.
Hebrews 13:5:
for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”
Fear not is an action word. God's protection is an active thing. Armor is necessary to do the job.
Ephesians 6:10-18 (click here to read the entire scripture-- it's great).
Shield of faith. A wall of shields.
Christians should set up a shield wall. The most dangerous thing to do in a fight is nothing. When you freeze up you lose. Make a decision even if it is a bad decision.
Joshua....Be strong and courageous. Every time that's said in the BIble they are sent out to conquer.
Plow forward. You can get through it. Finish, finish, finish.
We are living in the eye of the storm. Prepare for the next battle. You get a second wind in the ey. We're in the pause. Prepare for the storm that's coming. Arm yourselves.
Belt on our truth. Study New skills are harder to use than ones we've had for a long time. Prayer and scripture need to be second nature for us.
2 Timothy 1:7 -- God gave us a spirit of power, love and self-discipline.