OVERCOMING THE SEED OF DESTRUCTIVE FEAR

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Man has known and experienced fear in different ways, since creab‘on. Fear came up first, in the form of guilt, immediately after the fall of man.
2 TIMOTHY 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Adam said 'I was afraid', because he had disobeyed God. Fear can be good or bad thing depending on the form it takes.

1. Normal/natural fear whid'i is our natural reaction in the face of danger or emergencies (for example sudden breaking of a car); that comes from the release of a hormone/fluid that makes us hyperactive.

2. Godly fear/fear of the Lord which is reverence and special honour for the Lord. It comes from our love and understanding of the awesome power of the God of the universe. Christ said “if ‘ any one loves me, he will keep my word..." (John. 14:23).

3. Destructive fear is fear that keeps us from attempting whatever we would like to do or should do that is right or godly. This is fear in many forms like anxiety and worry that limits the strength and faith of a Christian and can quench the Holy Spirit in us.

Destructive fear is anti-faith and it is one of Satan's instruments to rob the believer of every bit of faith he may have in God. The key identifier of this type of fear lies in whether our fear keeps us from doing God's will or not. It is this kind of fear we must constantly address and overcome, with the Lord's help, in our lives.

1 John 4: 17-18

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Destructive fear prevents and restricts the free and true expression of love. Destructive fear which breads worry and anxiety does not have a plea in us overnight but it is a seed that is usually sown in a number of ways

1. A negative thinking pattern or 'defeatist complex' will cause one to be fearful of attempting anything new ,(even ordinary tasks are made fearfully difficult. (Job. 3:25).

2. An extremely unpleasant/traumatic experience that keeps us back from achieving our full potential, as we often judge new or different things with our past.

3. Sin -As Adam was afraid when he sinned in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1), our conscience also reminds of our relationship with God, whenever we sin. This is a fear of our unworthiness before the Lord which Satan (the accuser of the brethren) uses as a weapon of accusation and condemnation. But if we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John. 1 :9).

4. Parental/family influenceThere are 2 ways parents or a family can sow seed of fear in a child (i) Overprotection: An overprotective parent could make a child fearful and not try his potential in new areas because of the fear of his parents for him.
   (ii) Domination-Parents that are easily angered and who dominate the life of their child or who only amplify the wrongs/failure/weakness will create insecurity and fear in the child's life. .
   With God on our side, destructive FEAR should be seen as an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. God is able to give us new insights that would free us from the seed and hold of destructive fear in our lives. .

Isaiah 35: 3-4

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

If the seed of fear is sown in a life, it grows and restricts confidence and Well-being, starts up negative thoUght patterns which then breed anxiety and worry which can consume an entire life. To overcome the seed of fear, we'll need to apply the following Biblical principles.

(1) Face your destructive fear as sin and confess it as sin, because it does not proceed from faith (Roman. 14:23).

(2) Live by faithIt is easy to be fearful of what tomorrow holds and unending negative happening and gloom forecast in the news, unless we have an abiding faith in God. Being fearful or anxious does not empty tomorrow of its challenges, but'empties our today of the strength and courage we need to face the future, casting all our cares unto the Lord. (1 Peter. 5:7).

(3) Ask God to take your fear away The psalmist said 'I sought the Lord; He heard me and delivered me from all my fears (Psalm. 34:4). Take your fears and burden to the Lord in prayer and always remember to leave it with the Him and not take it along with you again. .

(4) Use the Word of God to fight your fears -use scriptures that deals with the Issue of fear to attack your fear. You should memorise these scripture to use. Using a small card that you have written the Word of God and having them before you (on your desk, in your wallet, in your car etc) will also constantly reassure you of God's Word for you that deals with your fear.

(5) Finally, thank God by faith for giving you victory over your fear.