Fear is one of the most debilitating emotions one can experience – so much so that it may even cause physical paralysis! For some it may be easy to assume the cause of fear is the fall of man itself, but this would be a serious error. We know, for example, that “the beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord” (Proverbs 9.10). Some have watered down this saying of Solomon’s to reinterpret the word “fear” as “respect,” but this misses the intention of the passage. Jesus tells us to “not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” One can only imagine what might have happened if Adam and Eve had a greater fear of God’s judgment before eating the forbidden fruit.

Fear, then, is not always a bad thing. After the fall but before the flood animals had no fear of man. It wasn’t until after the flood that God instilled this into the animal kingdom, for our benefit (Genesis 9.2). We ought to fear falling off a cliff as it may save one’s life. These are healthy fears, but there are also unhealthy fears.

Before Israel became a nation, Joshua sent out 12 men to spy the land God promised to give them. The men surveyed the land far and wide, carefully investigating it for 40 days. They even brought back grapes to show how healthy and fertile it was. They also brought back a report of the people living there, and the people were just as healthy as the fruit. Many places were settled by peoples known for their military skills, and some of the land was the home of giants. This unsettled 10 of the 12 men, and they gave away their fear when they testified, “and we seemed like grasshoppers both to ourselves and to them.” Their fear of the enormity of the people and their task caused them to shrink from the mission God had set before them.

Fear becomes a problem when we fear something or someone more than we fear God. For example, if we do not uphold God’s standards at work and shy away from talking about Jesus due to a fear of losing our job, then we fear the wrath of our employer more than God and sin greatly. If we fear rejection of a loved one by living out our commitment to God, then we fear that loss more than we fear God. The bottom line is this: we cannot fear risking any of our worldly pursuits (our income, reputation, love of or for another, career, friendship, home, etc.) more than we fear God, for in doing so we will invite God’s wrath and eventual distance from us. Paul knew this fear all too well, and asked others to pray that he might overcome it (Ephesians 6.19-.20).

How do we overcome these fears? Trust God. While God does not promise us blessings in return for our obedience, he does promise to never leave us -- which, in the end, is all we really need. As I’ve stated in previous posts, we need to remember that the spiritual life is the world we ought to regard most highly, not the physical. This life (and indeed world) are short-lived when compared to eternity and its time we started living with the long-view in mind. Finally, lean on the support and prayers of others, just as Paul did, so that we might “be strong and brave!” (Joshua 1.6).