Inside each of us, there is a battle. Some have progressed further than others, but we all have walked on this path. This path is called fear. Fear does terrible things to us. Though the Holy Spirit lives in us, our human nature oozes with fear. Throughout the Bible, we find person after person who made terrible decisions because they were afraid.
Adam’s Fear
Fear began with Adam in the Garden of Eden.
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
Genesis 3:8–10 NLT
Adam’s fear became part of the nature of humanity. Abraham gives us a good insight into the damage that fear causes.
He and Sarai (Sarah) went to Egypt to escape a severe famine. Abram was afraid that an Egyptian would kill him to take Sarai because of her beauty. So, because of fear, he told his wife, “Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.1” Fear wrecks our common sense.
I Will Not be Afraid
Before we received Jesus as our Savior, each of us was alone in a wicked world, enslaved by the devil. It’s a wonder that we didn’t do more stupid things than we did! But when Jesus comes in, we are no longer alone. Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit, and He did. Now, as a believer, the Holy Spirit lives in us and will for all of eternity. But our old nature tries to bring fear back into our lives.
If you are an American, find a dollar bill and look at it. Printed on the back are these words: “In God we trust.” Those words come from Psalms 56:11. The rest of that verse states, “I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Now consider this verse of Scripture:
But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.
1 Peter 3:14 NLT
Stop, Drop, and Roll
If Jesus is your Lord, then there is nothing you need to fear. Fear is not part of the new life that Jesus gave you. Whenever you become aware of fear creeping into your thoughts or emotions, treat it like being on fire – stop, drop, and roll!
Stop that fear from growing inside you. Drop the Rock, Jesus Christ, on those fears. And roll on down the road of life with the wind of the Holy Spirit at your back, the Light of Jesus ever before you, and our Father’s eternal care surrounding you. Perfect love, God’s love, drives out fear!
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** No part of this article was produced by artificial intelligence (AI). **
Footnotes
- Genesis 12:13 NIV, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+12%3A13&version=NIV ↩︎