What are you afraid of? The dark? Spiders? Heights? While some of our fears seem silly to others, they sure are real to us! There is one fear that we all face and struggle over. Do you fear the future? Have you ever felt afraid of what might happen? I know I have!
Humans are all the same. We fear disasters, being alone, aging, sickness or physical suffering and even death. While a healthy fear of injury will keep us from taking irresponsible physical risks, worrying about what the future holds can be crippling and destructive in our spiritual and emotional lives.
Satan knows this is a struggle for us. Time and again he will cause us to dwell on the “what if” thoughts of life. When our thinking goes in that direction it cripples us and robs us of the joy of today while we fear the future and tomorrow.
God also knows that we struggle with fear. The Bible tells us continually not to fear and don’t be afraid. Yet we find ourselves stuck in our fearful thoughts and overwhelmed by our fearful feelings. God’s Word has given us the steps to take to conquer the damaging emotion of fear and free ourselves from the captivity of wrong thinking.
Conquering Your Fear
-
Realize Fears Are Based On Imaginative Thinking, Not Upon Truth.
The future only exists in our imaginations. When we dwell on thoughts that bring fear, they tend to grow and convince us of their reality. God does not want us to dwell in thoughts that are untrue.
-
Refuse to Think “What If” Thoughts.
These thoughts are not true and must be filtered out of our thinking. Philippians 4:8 gives us the description of God’s filter system for our thoughts. He specifically lists the criteria for a Christian’s thought life by sharing what we should be thinking on. First on the list – things that are true! “What if” thoughts are not based on truth and must be filtered out. God commands us to meditate on that which is true and real. All events in the future are neither.
The Philippians 4:8 filter system challenges us to not examine the future with fear-generating questions such as:
- What if my spouse leaves me or dies?
- What if I never get married or have children?
- What if I get a chronic disease or even cancer?
- What if my child rebels or makes bad choices?
- What if something bad happens to my family or me?
- What if we can’t make it financially?
Questions like these can consume our minds and keep us from trusting God! “What if” is a guess – it’s hypothetical thinking at best. If you want to overcome your fears you cannot allow your mind to think “what if” thoughts.
-
Overcome “What If” Thinking With Thoughts of Truth
When “what if” thoughts flood our minds, we must confront them with the truths of the Bible and the truths of God’s character it reveals. We must contradict our fears with the peace of God’s presence, power and His love. Our thoughts must be guided by truthful reality, not what might happen to us. This rules out all fearful dwelling on the future.
Here are some Bible truths and references I use to direct my thoughts when fear comes: Isaiah 41:10, Psalms 56:3, Philippians 4:6-7, John 14:27, 2 Timothy 1:7, Matthew 6:34, I Peter 5:6-7, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 55:22, Psalm 46:1, Romans 8:28-39, Psalm 91, Psalm 37
-
Dwell on the Fact that the Future is in God’s Hands.
Whatever the future holds, the Lord is in control. Whatever a child of God must face, He will be there to help us with whatever the future holds and help us handle it with His grace.
Yes, we need to be prudent about the future and prepare for what might come our way, but we need not to waste energy worrying about what might happen! Take care of yourself, your relationships and walk wisely – and then be sure to leave it all in God’s Hands!
-
Decide to Live “One Day at a Time.”
Today is real. We must decide to focus our thoughts and energy on what must be accomplished today. Then when tomorrow comes, we must do the same thing. We are to live our lives “one day at a time” focusing on what’s true today and trusting God to carry you through each and every moment!
-
Rely on God’s Promise of His Grace For Strength.
The Lord told us in I Corinthians 12:9 that when we lean on His grace for help in our weaknesses, then we have the strength and power to face whatever may come. Not our strength or power – but His! We must be humble and learn to lean on Him when fear tries to overpower us.
When the future does arrive…in the next minute, hour or tomorrow…you will by God’s grace, deal with it then, when it’s truly present and real. God’s grace will carry you.
-
Choose Faith Over Fear.
Every day we live we make choices. We can allow our flesh and mind to control our days or we can choose to yield to the Holy Spirit and live by faith in His protection. The Word of God teaches us “the just shall live by faith.” When I try to handle life in the flesh I always find myself overcome by fear. However, when I stay yielded to the Holy Spirit’s control, my faith grows and I am overcome by His peace that surpasses my understanding of what’s happening in my life. It all starts with my choice! We must choose to live by faith to defeat and conquer our fear!
-
Guard Your Mind Against Fearful Thoughts.
Satan is our enemy. He is constantly attacking and trying to find what will remove us from the service of the Lord. He knows he can’t take our eternal salvation, but we longs to mute our testimony and make our lives ineffective for Christ. Fear is one of his oldest devices against God’s children. He wants us to believe that God is a liar and that He will not take care of us. The devil will continually through thoughts of fear into your thinking. A fearful thought is not sinful in and of itself, but how you handle it can be sinful.
Proverbs 4:23 commands us to keep or guard our hearts or minds with diligence. Why? Because how we think is how we will feel and act. Don’t allow Satan persuade you to ruin today’s joy by obsessing over thoughts of what might happen tomorrow!
God has promised us in Isaiah 41:10 –
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Trust God today to help you apply His truths and conquer your fear!
I needed this so much just now. I have been afraid of what tomorrow may bring. I keep asking myself “what if” and think of the worst possable outcome. Im going to try to mediate on the now and what I know is true. I just woke from sleeping at 1:00 a.m. and begun to fear as I have been for the past week and I needed help and I came a cross this. Not the first time at 1:00 in the morning that God used you to help me. Thank you Penny