Fear. It’s something that everyone experiences in one form or another throughout life. In recent days, there’s even more to fear about. Covid-19. Monkeypox. Inflation. Recession. Nuclear war. It seems almost impossible to avoid reading or watching anything without feeling that there’s something to fear.

But many of us also feel fear at an individual, private level. At certain times or in certain situations, we grapple with fear and anxiety about something that affects us.

It could be a job interview, an important meeting with a boss or client, waiting for a medical report, taking over a new team or ministry . . . anything that gives us that awful feeling of dread and anxiety, or that knot in the pit of the stomach that never goes away.

Sometimes, it’s even worse than a brooding worry in the background. We may feel like fear is gripping us tightly, like a cold fist around our hearts.

These are the days when we feel overwhelmed by fear.

So how can we respond? Is there anything we can do? And why are we still fearful, even though we believe in God? Is something wrong with us?

First, we need to know that the fear we are struggling with may not be “normal” (if there’s even such a thing). There are times when a fear can become so debilitating that we cannot handle it alone.

If you are struggling with constant anxiety and fear in your life to the point that you feel paralysed and unable to continue with your daily routine, you may need professional help. This is not something to be ashamed of or embarrassed about: anxiety disorders—from generalised anxiety to panic attacks and full-blown phobias—are a very real mental health problem.

If you find your fears disproportionately resistant to any consistent efforts to deal with them, you might want to consider consulting a medical doctor or mental health professional.

Some fears have a biological component, and medication may be needed. Many of us are also born more anxious, worrisome, or nervous by nature, and we may need medication on a long-term basis to maintain a healthy balance.

Second, remember that fear is nothing to be ashamed about. All of us struggle with fear, even if some may not admit it. Don’t ever let others belittle your problems or dismiss your feelings of anxiousness.

In fact, fear is a good thing.

It gears up our body, mind, and emotions, so that we can focus on one thing: protecting ourselves. Just like pain alerts us when we’ve been injured, fear grabs our attention and prepares us to either get out of harm’s way or confront the danger head-on.

Anxiety, meanwhile, is the pervasive feeling of apprehension that can linger for a longer time. It is a nagging feeling of dread or worry about future events. It’s something many of us are familiar with.

Both short-term fear and long-term anxiety are an integral part of our being. They are complex, multi-layered responses to danger that all of us have, in varying degrees.

Fear, in the right amount, can protect soldiers on the battlefield, warn a driver on a dangerous road, or motivate a worker to excel. And, the fear of deadlines and failure can be a powerful motivation to do our best.

At the same time, if we have too much fear, it can hinder our actions or paralyse us altogether.

What’s important to keep in mind is this:

fear is natural. In fact, it is how God created us.

The Bible is no stranger to the concept of fear.

In fact, it is mentioned more than 850 times in the Old and New Testaments, through words like

There are many stories of biblical heroes who responded to self-preserving fear in the presence of danger. David, for example, fled when a jealous, murderous King Saul attempted to kill him. And Joseph and Mary, obeying instructions from an angel, escaped to Egypt because they feared the wicked King Herod would attempt to kill Jesus.

There are what we call “healthy fears”—situations and people we need to avoid because they are dangerous. For example, we should not give abusive, violent, or severely addicted people unrestricted access to our lives and relationships; prudence requires that we establish strong and clear boundaries with them.

As God is the one who made our inmost being (Psalm 139:13), naturally He understands our fears—as well as our feelings of being overwhelmed by them.

On His last evening on earth, Jesus assured His followers: “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Jesus knows that we face many forms of tribulation, affliction, anguish, and burden in this world. And He knows that we can feel so overwhelmed that we lose heart, and succumb to fear and discouragement.

More importantly, He shows us how we can learn to overcome our fears.

Since fear is basic to our existence, we need to learn to deal with it. But we can go about this in the wrong way, which might only make matters worse. For example, we can . . .

• Numb ourselves to our fears and ignore them.
• Mask our fears by covering them up.
• Minimise our fears by pretending that they are not important.
• Rationalise our fears by explaining them away.
• Dismiss our fears as emotional reactions and nothing more.
• Exaggerate our fears by making dangers bigger than they really are.

These faulty strategies will not help us overcome our fears effectively; in fact, they could even intensify them. Instead, we need to learn to overcome fear in healthy ways.

Some steps to overcoming crippling fears are:

Standing up to our fears and facing them head-on is half the battle. Instead of silencing them or distracting ourselves, we need to “feel” our fears—to give ourselves permission to feel the trembling, the anguish, and the terror.

We can learn from David, who was most honest in wrestling with his fears:

My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
—Psalm 55:4–5

As we face our fears, we can ask ourselves some questions:

• What am I afraid of right now? 
• What am I trying to avoid facing?
• If I wasn’t afraid right now, what would I do differently?
• What would have to change for me not to be afraid?
• What am I afraid will happen in this situation?
• What do I fear the other person will think of me?
• What am I afraid will happen if my anxious thoughts are true? What’s the worst that could happen? And if that happens, then what? 

This last example is called chaining—linking questions together like links in a chain so that we can begin to track a pattern to our fear. This process of honestly facing our fears can help us learn from our fears instead of running from them.

Soldiers are trained to deal with life-threatening situations in battle—not to stop fearing the situations, but to advance in the face of what they fear so that they can accomplish their objectives. As one war veteran once shared, “When I got into my first fire-fight, I felt fear riddle my whole body. Then the training kicked in.”

In much the same way, God calls us to obey and follow Him into battle in the midst of our fears. We cannot pretend that our fear does not exist.

We can tell God, as David did in Psalm 56:3–4:

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?

Jesus, too, commands us to “take heart” (John 16:33). He understands that our tendency is to cower and flee. So, He reminds us that “I have overcome the world”. We can stand and fight bravely because our confidence lies not in our own ability, but in Him who has overcome the world. Remember, God is greater than all our fears!

When a furious squall began swamping their boat, the disciples panicked. Drowning was a real possibility. But Jesus continued sleeping. When His disciples shook Him awake, He hushed the wind and the waves, before addressing their fears.

“Why are you so afraid?” He asked, “Do you still have no faith?” 

Perhaps it was at that moment, that the disciples realised who was in the boat with them—the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. That knowledge changed their whole perspective.

The question each of us must thus ask ourselves is this: “Who is in my boat?”

It can also help to remember that we have everything we need, as believers who have God’s promise of His presence and salvation. 

Sometimes, what we are facing at the moment may seem enormous and overwhelming. But we can ask ourselves: What is at stake here? What is the one thing we cannot possibly live without? 

The only vital thing we need is the security and significance that we already have in a personal relationship with Jesus. As Paul reminds us in the comforting passage of Romans 8:31–39: “If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

Paul’s own answer to these rhetorical questions is most reassuring: 

Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38–39)

Remember, there’s nothing vital at stake. 

We do not even have to fear death, which lies at the root of all our fears. If fear is about losing control over things like our health, our dreams, our livelihood, our profession, our reputation, or our financial security, then death represents the ultimate loss of control—over life itself.

We can walk confidently with our good and trustworthy Shepherd, who will lead us through the darkest valley:

Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
(Psalm 23:4)