I was trembling.
I lay in my bed in the middle of the night, my husband sleeping peacefully next to me. Yet I was so terrified that I literally quaked with fear. I couldn’t relax and found it difficult to sleep.
Sadly, this was almost a nightly occurrence at that time in my life.
I had suffered such severe abuse at the hands of others, and as a child, I often awoke in the night to see the kind of violence children should never see. Night was not a place of rest for me, but a time of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. I didn’t have any sense of security, only a dread of what bad thing was going to happen next.
This fear did not leave overnight, but little by little, God delivered me from this type of fear.
Today, I want to share with you how you can overcome fear in your life and find strength and courage through Christ Jesus. The basis for the is article is Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (NKJV).
Be Strong to Overcome Fear
How in the world are you supposed to be strong when you are terrified? I’ve wondered that myself, but I have learned that to be strong to overcome fear takes time. Just as you build physical strength through regular exercise, so you build spiritual and emotional strength by regularly being in the Word of God.
Some of the definitions that Strongs uses to define the word strong in the Greek and Hebrew is to “grow strong.”
So, how do you grow strong when you are struggling with fear?
Be in the Word every day.
Use a reading plan and have a devotional time with the Lord daily. Let the Word encourage you and meditate on God’s promises. Find a time that works for you and make an appointment with yourself to read the Word.
Study the Word to Overcome Fear
There are a lot of great books on how to study the Word of God. One of my favorites is Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods. If you will take some time and study the Bible for yourself, you will grow strong in the Word of God, and it will strengthen you in your relationship with Christ.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But He who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:8 NKJV).
Memorize the Word to Overcome Fear
When you memorize the word, you are getting it on the inside of you. One of my Bible teachers in college spoke of memorizing the Word and having it come up on the inside of her at just the right time. I have experienced this too. When I most need it, a scripture I have memorized in the past will make its way to the front of my mind.
As you grow strong in the Word, reading it, studying it and memorizing it, you will grow strong spiritually and the Word will begin to do a work in you. For it is living and active (See Hebrews 4:12). As you grow strong in the Word, it will affect every other area of your life.
Be of Good Courage to Overcome Fear
Strongs defines courage as to be bold, be brave, to be determined, to be steadfast in mind or strong in the mind.
This comes back again to being strong in the Word of God. We find courage through the Word and the promises of God that we have digested for ourselves. It helps us to be bold, brave, steadfast and to not give up hope.
If you want to be of good courage, find strength in the Word of God.
Do not fear of be afraid of them.
In the book of Nehemiah, when the Jews were rebuilding the wall, those who opposed them tried to discourage the Jews from doing the work. Nehemiah 4 even states that their agenda was to stir up confusion and cause the work to cease.
Fear’s agenda is to hinder you from moving forward, to stop you in your tracks and block you from moving forward into the plans God has for you.
Oftentimes fear has attacked me the most right before a time of ministering to others, or when I was stepping out into something new. It is when you do things courageously, in the face of fear, that you keep moving forward and overcome fear.
For the Lord your God is With You
The last part of the Deuteronomy 31:6 says, for the Lord your God is with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you.
In my own life, I experienced the betrayal and abandonment of those who should have protected me.
It has been a journey to know and really believe that the Lord is with me, that He will never abandon me. It is only with His help that I keep moving forward, knowing that He is my good Father.
God is a God who keeps His Word (See Numbers 23:19). He is a good Father (See Psalm 103:13). He does not abandon His children but is with them (See Isaiah 41:10). He leads His children, guides them, and shows them the way to go (See Isaiah 30:21).
God is with you.
He will not abandon you.
You can call out to Him at any time, and He is present with you.
He will never leave you alone. He will never leave you as an orphan.
As you read the Word, study it and memorize it, especially paying attention to who your Heavenly Father is, you will grow in the ability to trust Him with everything. He will never fail you (See Hebrews 13:5).
Conclusion
You have seen that to overcome fear, you gain strength from the Word, which helps you to have courage, and to step out in boldness and bravery. You have learned that fear’s purpose is to stop your growth and hinder you from moving forward, so it is imperative that you don’t listen to its voice. You have also learned that as you grow in knowing your heavenly Father more, you will learn to trust Him. He is not a God who abandons you, but a God who is with you and never fails you.
Will you overcome fear overnight?
No.
You will grow in strength and overcome fear through regular, habitual, daily time with God in His Word. You will grow through making the decision that you will not quit, but continue until you see the harvest of growth, strength and courage in your life (See Galatians 6:9).
Through these small, daily steps, you will learn not to give into fear’s voice and know what its agenda is. No matter what fear whispers in your into your mind, you will know that your God is greater and will never leave you nor forsake you.
How can you overcome fear?
It starts with becoming strong in the Word and getting to know who God really is.
Today, decide you will take one small step to strengthen yourself in the Word.
In His love,
Carolyn
