{"id":45,"date":"2015-07-21T00:21:37","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T00:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/?p=45"},"modified":"2015-07-25T21:52:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-25T21:52:59","slug":"the-danger-of-fear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html","title":{"rendered":"The Danger of Fear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Make no mistake – fear is a dangerous and powerful enemy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It is cunning and deceptive and can masquerade as a litany of emotions.<\/p>\n

Anger, jealousy, unforgivness, anxiousness, intolerance, shame, bigotry, hatred, rebelliousness and selfishness share a single core \u2013 fear.<\/p>\n

Whispers of doubt and worry that attempt to assail our thoughts are intentional attacks on our faith. And failure to resist these taunts will most definitely result in an entanglement of fear.<\/p>\n

There is a popular adage \u201cFEAR<\/strong>: F<\/strong>alse E<\/strong>vidence A<\/strong>ppearing R<\/strong>eal\u201d. I have loved this acronym from the moment I was introduced to it. It reminds us that we serve a God who is bigger than our circumstances. But the truth is,<\/p>\n

Fear is real.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of us struggle with it on a daily, or even moment-by-moment basis. Often, we are not even aware of the struggle<\/em>.<\/p>\n

So, though in our mind we know that God is bigger than our circumstance, our heart trembles at the details of what we face. A very real question for many of us is this \u201cHow do we overcome the f<\/strong>alse e<\/strong>vidence a<\/strong>ppearing r<\/strong>eal?\u201d<\/p>\n

For all those who like me, sometimes struggle with fear, I would like to introduce a new acronym:<\/p>\n

FEAR: F<\/strong>aith E<\/strong>xposes A<\/strong>ttacks of a R<\/strong>eal Enemy<\/p>\n

Faith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fear will cause us to run from our difficulties, instead of trusting God to carry us through them. Fear, and the desire to escape it, can lead to anxiety, depression, and host of destructive coping habits.<\/p>\n

No one is fully immune from fear.<\/p>\n

Even those who have experienced great moves of God can be susceptible if they are not careful.<\/p>\n

But, God, in His abundant mercy,<\/em> has provided a way of escape from fear that is certain and true. Faith<\/em><\/strong> is the natural and far superior opponent of fear.<\/p>\n

Fear is a tool of our ancient enemy. But faith is a gift from God.<\/p>\n

It is graciously bestowed to His beloved children through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is is the supernatural fuel of our prayer life, and a worshipful demonstration of our love.<\/p>\n

Exposes<\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision to\u00a0walk in faith must be taken up again and again. Every day can bring new concerns that attempt to allure us away from trusting in the Lord.<\/p>\n

But God, in His great love, has not left us powerless.<\/p>\n

Strength is found in seeking the presence of Christ through prayer, meditation and His Word. As we begin to understand His Will and Purpose, His Word becomes manifest through and in our lives, and our faith increases. \u00a0As we grow in Christ, and mature in Spirit, we become able to more easily discern His truth. Faith acknowledges that our wisdom is as foolishness compared to the wisdom of God, and defers to His plan for every area of our life.<\/p>\n

Faith also insulates us against the ravaging effects of fear, because faith exposes<\/em><\/strong> our situations, whether glorious, mundane, or challenging, as opportunities for our Savior to be glorified.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a><\/p>\n

Attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the reasons that fear is so effective is that it relies on us to do our very favorite thing: focus on ourselves. The more we focus on our hurts, disappointments, goals, interests and understanding, the more vulnerable we become. When we forget that our wisdom, protection, and provision must come through Christ, we are primed for an attack<\/em><\/strong> of fear.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s purpose for fear is that we acknowledge truth: we are not God. But, if we are not undergirded by faith, fear can drive us to find ways to cope with that truth –<\/p>\n

Choices<\/em> that separate us from God.<\/p>\n

Habits<\/em> that seek to replace God.<\/p>\n

Many of us have abused ourselves, or others, in our attempt to replace God with people, things, or habits.<\/p>\n

The enemy\u2019s purpose for fear is not simply to make us afraid, it is to make us vulnerable to the suggestion toward\u00a0sinful conduct.<\/p>\n

A Real <\/strong>Enemy<\/p>\n

Jesus claimed the existence of an enemy<\/em><\/strong>. Not a red boogeyman with horns and a pitchfork, but an ancient enemy of mankind, bent on our destruction and at odds with our God.<\/p>\n

That enemy is real, and he will use others, situations, and even ourselves, to draw us away from the good will of Christ. Our enemy understands that fear causes us to walk limply, weak in power, as an injured Christian.<\/p>\n

He understands that our prayers require the energy of our faith. Perhaps better than many of us, he knows that there is only one God \u2013 and He can not be replaced.<\/p>\n

The Bible says the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy.<\/p>\n

And He will use fear to accomplish that, if we allow him to.<\/p>\n

Victory<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it is true: Fear is real. But, we serve a mighty God, who has given us of His own Spirit that we might walk in victory over sin and death. As we shift our attention from our own interest, and endeavor to know and abide in Christ, we will find new peace, joy, strength, and power to overcome anything that seeks to subdue us.<\/p>\n

Even fear<\/em>.<\/p>\n

For further study: 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8-9, John 10:10<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Make no mistake – fear is a dangerous and powerful enemy. It is cunning and deceptive and can masquerade as a litany of emotions. Anger, jealousy, unforgivness, anxiousness, intolerance, shame, bigotry, hatred, rebelliousness and selfishness share a single core \u2013 fear. Whispers of doubt and worry that attempt to assail our thoughts are intentional attacks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":595,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19,20,12,14,16,17],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trusting-god","tag-fear","tag-overcoming-fear","tag-peace","tag-purpose","tag-strength-during-struggle","tag-trials"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Danger of Fear - A Journey to Remember<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We serve a mighty God, who has given us of His own Spirit that we might walk in victory over sin and death, and overcome the spirit of fear.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Danger of Fear - A Journey to Remember\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We serve a mighty God, who has given us of His own Spirit that we might walk in victory over sin and death, and overcome the spirit of fear.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Journey to Remember\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-21T00:21:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-25T21:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/files\/2015\/07\/fear.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"lmullenix\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@embracinghiswil\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Danger of Fear - A Journey to Remember","description":"We serve a mighty God, who has given us of His own Spirit that we might walk in victory over sin and death, and overcome the spirit of fear.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Danger of Fear - A Journey to Remember","og_description":"We serve a mighty God, who has given us of His own Spirit that we might walk in victory over sin and death, and overcome the spirit of fear.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html","og_site_name":"A Journey to Remember","article_published_time":"2015-07-21T00:21:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-25T21:52:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/files\/2015\/07\/fear.png"}],"author":"lmullenix","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@embracinghiswil","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html","name":"The Danger of Fear - A Journey to Remember","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/files\/2015\/07\/fear.png","datePublished":"2015-07-21T00:21:37+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-25T21:52:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/#\/schema\/person\/59d7d295297609bec7103fe10a80c7c5"},"description":"We serve a mighty God, who has given us of His own Spirit that we might walk in victory over sin and death, and overcome the spirit of fear.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/files\/2015\/07\/fear.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/files\/2015\/07\/fear.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/2015\/07\/the-danger-of-fear.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Danger of Fear"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/","name":"A Journey to Remember","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Letetia Mullenix","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/#\/schema\/person\/59d7d295297609bec7103fe10a80c7c5","name":"lmullenix","description":"Letetia is a working, blogging, homeschooling, PhD student, wife and Mommy to five \"happy, noisy, high-energy, snuggly\" children whom she adores. Daily, she strives to learn a little more how to live a life full of love and joy. But, most importantly, each day she learns a little more that the secret to embracing life, love, and joy, is to embrace the One and only Source. Letetia\u2019s life story abounds with grace and mercy, and so she is both compelled and delighted to offer comfort to others with the comfort she has received in Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5) Letetia encourages women regularly on her blog, EmbracingHisWill.com, and feels privileged to share words of hope and faith with others as they endeavor to submit to God\u2019s will for their lives - one step and one victory at a time. She also pens a morning prayer devotional, \u2018Daily Hope & a Prayer\u2019, which can be found on her website. In her community, she works as a part-time counselor for troubled youth, and has a passion for children and teens, marriages, families, individuals with special needs, the homeless, and missionary and recovery ministries. As a Lupus survivor, she is also committed to bringing awareness to chronic illness issues and care. She has received a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Concentration in Religion and Education, a Masters of Arts in Teaching in Special Education, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Special Education. \u201cPraise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.\u201d 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NIV)","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/embracinghiswil"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/author\/lmullenix"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/ajourneytoremember\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}