Spirit of Fear

Nothing causes fear and panic like the unknown. Life has a lot of unknowns. Some of them are scarier than others. Right now, we have the wonderful coronavirus pandemic to throw us into a state of panic and chaos. The world seems to be going crazy all around us. Some people are predicting Armageddon is just around the corner. People are scared. There’s a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering going on with our media, and then there are the protocols put in place by various governments to try to minimize the effects of the virus. Yes, it’s a global crisis with lots of unknowns. So what do we do? As Christians, do we join the world in panicking? Do we ignore the government regulations? How does God want us to respond?

GOD DOESN’T WANT US TO BE AFRAID

The Bible is full of verses telling us not to be afraid. Sometimes these verses are found in the context of situations that would cause anyone to fear: things like war, plagues, and turmoil. Other times, they come in situations that are simply unusual for us, like seeing angels. Fear is a normal emotional response to danger. In the proper context, fear keeps us safe. It clues us into dangerous situations and gives us the adrenaline necessary to get out of those situations, but sometimes fear becomes something more.

The world is full of people suffering from debilitating fear. When fear appears in situations where there is no immediate danger, you can be sure there is a spiritual component to it. The spirit of fear creeps in subtly and opens the doors to other spirits as well. The spirit of fear tries to convince you to believe the lies of the enemy, but the spirit of fear doesn’t speak to you directly. It doesn’t say, “You can’t do this. You won’t make it.” or things like that. It speaks to you in the first person. It says “I can’t do this. I won’t make it.” Because the spirit of fear speaks to you as if it were your own thoughts, you may fall into the trap of agreeing with those thoughts.

GOD’S WORD IS THE ANTIDOTE TO FEAR

1 Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but has given us the spirit of power, of love, and a sound mind. The spirit of fear has no place in the life of a believer, but that doesn’t mean that believers do not struggle with a spirit of fear without knowing it. It’s easy to spot a spirit of fear when it’s manifesting as outrageous bouts of phobia-like fear. We look at people with issues like agoraphobia or OCD fears and think that if anything is a manifestation of a spirit of fear that is!*

Of course, it’s a lot harder when fear manifests itself as nightmares, random anxiety, panic attacks, worry, uneasiness, stress, tension, physical ailments like stomach ache or headache, or when it manifests as anger. These symptoms are much more subtle, and because they aren’t loud and in your face most of us write them off as just something that happens or just how we are. We never even consider the possibility that a spirit of fear may be tormenting us.

In her book, Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce Meyer talks about the ways the enemy uses our own thoughts against us, and the spirit of fear is no different. In this time of unprecedented uncertainty, how often have you found your mind going to thoughts of: “what if?” “What if my job closes?” “What if school doesn’t reopen?” “What if we run out of food?” “What if I can’t find toilet paper?” Do these thoughts sound familiar? I know I’ve had them. How long do you entertain these “what-if’s”? Do you hold them captive to the word of the Lord and rebuke them with His promises? Or do you let them play over and over in your mind until you are worried and anxious?

The answer to fearful thoughts and a spirit of fear is to take every thought captive. When a fearful thought comes your way, grab hold of it. Don’t entertain it, but recognize it for what it is. Then find out what God says about it. The what-if’s above can be countered with verses like Matthew 6:25-26: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” God has graciously promised to provide all our needs. He will take care of us.

Here are some other verses that you can use to combat fear: 1 John 4:18, Romans 8:15, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 23: 4, Psalm 27:1, Deuteronomy 31:6, and Psalm 56:3-4. Psalm 91 has some wonderful promises of protection, especially from plagues. We can put our confidence in God and resist fear. There is no need for us to be anxious or worried or fearful about anything that comes. God has prepared a way for us. He is not shaken, and so we do not need to be shaken either.

GOD WANTS US TO USE WISDOM.

Now, we know that God does not want us to operate out of fear. We should not be running around in a panic like the world around us may be doing. We are to be a steady beacon of God’s light, His assurance, and His peace so that we point the way to Him to all of our neighbors who are full of fear right now. We should not be out buying items in bulk without reason or fear-mongering with bad information, but neither should we ignore wise precautions when it comes to dealing with this particular virus.

Romans 13:1-2 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” God has placed the ruling authorities in power. We are to submit to their authority and follow their directions UNLESS they explicitly violate the Word of God. If our government were demanding that we cease to worship God, demanding that we pray to other gods, or demanding that we participate in immoral acts, we would be justified in disobeying them. We are NOT justified in disobeying directive to wash our hands, social distance, and avoid spreading the virus to others.

In fact, following these precautions is a way for us to demonstrate in a tangible way that we love our neighbors. It’s a way for us to put the needs of others above our own concerns. We aren’t following precautions for those of us who will get this illness and suffer only mild symptoms. We are following these precautions for the minority of people who will get this illness and need serious medical intervention in order to survive. We are trying to give them the best shot at surviving by making sure that adequate resources are available to care for them when and if they need them.

So shine your light to the world around you. They will see your trust in God, the peace that passes understanding that rules in your life, the fruit of the Spirit, and they will wonder what it is that you have that keeps you so steady and calm. What a great opportunity that presents to share with them the gospel message and to offer them the opportunity to experience God’s perfect peace and love for themselves! We have been praying for revival. We know God works all things for good. Let us be vigilant and attentive to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves to share the gospel and to love our neighbor. This world needs the Lord, and we are His ambassadors!

*I am in no way suggesting that all mental illness is attributable to spiritual demonic attacks. I think mental illness is much more complex than that. However, I do believe there are spiritual elements to a variety of health issues and that we need to treat all possible elements in order to truly be healed.