Overcoming Fear
Overcoming Fear
Covid-19 Series
Collin Leong. April 6, 2020
Power of Fear and How to Overcome it.
What hinders Christians from hearing God's message when pestilence strikes? Fear. The noise of fear makes us ineffective in hearing God's prompting, and paralyses us from obeying God.
We shall use 2 Tim 1:7 to guide us in understanding the power of fear and what we can do to overcome it: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (NKJV)
1. The Real Power of Fear
The first thing we notice is that fear is a spirit. And if God did not give this spirit to us, then the only other source is the devil.
Now, we are not referring to the "fight or flight" fear that God designed into our bodies. That kind of fear protects us by releasing chemicals that enable our body to defend itself when in danger.Rather, we are talking about the spirit of fear that the devil uses to influence both the believers and pre-believers in a major crisis. It is also applicable for personal fears, where bad experiences in the past (consciously or subconsciously) trap the person in phobia or defensive/aggressive behaviours. This is an emotional or spiritual bondage, but we will not cover this in this blog.
The power of the spirit of fear is not merely making people afraid, to go panic buying or whatever. The real power is in the distraction fear brings to the vulnerable areas of their personal weakness. The devil's intent is simply this - to take our eyes and ears off from God.
The lake of Galilee was in the midst of a storm, when Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat and walk towards Him. Peter did well at first, and then fear came in. He saw the wind and the waves, and he took his eyes off from Jesus. The wind and the waves did not cause him to sink, but removing his eyes from Jesus did. That is the danger of fear! (Mat 14:22-33)
Let me give my own example. One of my vulnerability is greed. When I saw that the stock market had plummeted tremendously, I started to spend time analysing and investing in shares. Not that investing is a sin, but it stole away my time from reading the scriptures and praying. It makes me anxious as my share prices continue to drop. When you are worried, you can't hear what God is trying to say to you. At one point, I suddenly felt the rebuke from the Holy Spirit.
Other Christians have other weaknesses that fear uses to redirect their attention away from God. What are yours? What have you spend time on, or anxious about, that took away your focus from God? Pray about it, and you will know.
2. Overcoming Fear
Fearing the circumstances makes us a slave to that fear, through many unhealthy distractions. Having a fear of God, however, gives us wisdom and gives us clarity of God's will for our lives.
"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!” (Rom 8:15)
"And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." (Isaiah 11:2)
2 Timothy 1:7 gives us the antidote when infected by the spirit of fear. These may not be the only remedy available, but it is the top of the list. They are "power, love, and self-control."
a) Access to Supernatural Power
A different translation of "fear" in 2 Tim 1:7 is "timidity." If you recall, the disciples of Jesus were hiding secretly in a room after the crucifixion, for the authorities were seeking to arrest them. They were, like us, locked down.
It was only after the Holy Spirit descend on them that they overcame their timidity and became bold to go out and preach salvation to people. Within a short time, tens of thousands were saved in the middle east and Asia. That is the power we have in Christ, to be His instruments to save souls.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph 6:12)
Our real enemy is not the virus, but the evil forces. When we pray in the spirit, we go to the real battle in the spiritual realm, where our enemies are fighting to cast doubts on both unbelievers and believers.
Prayer in the spirit has a superhuman power to protect our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to create opportunities for us to share the Gospel.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Eph 6:18
It was only after the Holy Spirit descend on them that they overcame their timidity and became bold to go out and preach salvation to people. Within a short time, tens of thousands were saved in the middle east and Asia. That is the power we have in Christ, to be His instruments to save souls.
Ephesians 6:12 reminds us: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph 6:12)
Our real enemy is not the virus, but the evil forces. When we pray in the spirit, we go to the real battle in the spiritual realm, where our enemies are fighting to cast doubts on both unbelievers and believers.
Prayer in the spirit has a superhuman power to protect our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to create opportunities for us to share the Gospel.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Eph 6:18
The question is, do we pray more and are we bolder to share the Gospel during this crisis, or does the spirit of fear and timidity win the battle for our hearts?
b) Acts of Love
In crisis, we look not inwards but outwards, to see who we can serve and help. The Spirit of Fear says "hunker down, protect yourself. Horde the groceries, toilet papers and masks!" Love for others means taking some risks to serve the needy and reach out to the lost courageously.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." 1 John 4:18
Do we have someone we have not forgiven, or have not asked for forgiveness? Do we someone we have not verbally expressed our love for? Do we have someone we ought to help, but never took the time and effort? Do we know a group of people that God calls to our mind, but we never took the courage?
The questions above apply even when there is no major crisis, for the day is short and can end suddenly. But a crisis like Covid-19 brings the reality of mortality closer and can motivate us to be more Christ-like.
c) Attitude of a Sound Mind
A Sound Mind is especially relevant in this social media world filled with all kinds of fake news and conspiracy theories.
A sound mind stabilizes us and anchor us in the Word of God, and allows us to "test every spirit" (1 John 4:1) before we jump to conclusion or take hasty actions due to panic or to believe in the wrong doctrines. The words of evil spirits can come from "false prophets" that the Bible says will increase in the last days. There are also spirit of errors inadvertently spread by well-meaning Christians who are not grounded in the Word or guided by the Holy Spirit.
The Word of God is the only reliable source of spiritual information, and meditating on it and contemplating God's personal message for us gives us a sound perspective to current circumstances and make us wise.
A sound mind is also a sensible mind to take proper precautions to prevent infection, such as wearing masks and washing hands and avoiding crowded places. Though common sense, so many people have violated stay home orders and attend mass events that led to major outbreaks.
The Word of God is the only reliable source of spiritual information, and meditating on it and contemplating God's personal message for us gives us a sound perspective to current circumstances and make us wise.
A sound mind is also a sensible mind to take proper precautions to prevent infection, such as wearing masks and washing hands and avoiding crowded places. Though common sense, so many people have violated stay home orders and attend mass events that led to major outbreaks.
"So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:31-34)
Do we have the self-control and the confident faith that draws people to Christ?
Conclusion
Pestilences are "birth pangs" (Mat 24:8) or "beginning of sorrows" that Jesus said will happen. More disasters and wars will come, and they will be more frequent and more severe. The birth pangs will give birth to the rule of the antichrist, who will take advantage of the fear of the people and set laws to control the society, that leads to persecution of God's people. Then the "Day of the Lord" will come, with Jesus' returning.
The sun will be given over to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and terrifying Day of the LORD. And everyone who calls upon the name of the LORD will be delivered." ( Joel 2: 21, 27, 29, 32)
All major events are like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle painting God's grand scheme of redemption. We cannot see the perfect picture until it is done, when the whole Earth is placed under the kingship of Christ. I think it happen within our lifetime.
What we can hold on to now is that God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is the same loving God during my brighter days, as He is now in my darker days. We must live in faith and not in fear. And may our faith grow stronger in this crisis, so that we are made ready for the coming tribulation.
END OF PART 1
To read part 2 of this blog, where we go into the details of prophecies relevant to crisis such as Covid-19, please click here: https://wordforseason.blogspot.com/2020/04/covid-19-end-times-game-plan.html
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