Fear and the Christian Life

Locating Fear in Your Life

Fear. I'm not a fan. "Is this thought from God?" I think we all may wonder this at times, especially if it's a thought of impending doom. What happens when you have a thought about a family member dying? Do you keep your phone close by just in case she calls? Maybe you call her. You respond to a thought of impending doom as if it is reality. It feels as if something bad is happening. The pain with a fearful thought is the confusion of location. Did it come from God, myself, or others?

Consider fear and the Christan life, and specifically the influence of others. This includes what others have said to you about their life, beliefs about God, choices, and interpretation of their experiences. This also includes what happened to others and your interpretation of these things. Others may be friends, news anchors, pastors, family, as well as Satan. Others have said things to you. This is true, but their interpretations may not be true. It is true what happened to your friend. It is true that your step-father said things. Are others' interpretations of your experiences true? Not necessarily.

The influence of myself would include what has happened to you, and your interpretation of these things. If others interpet your experiences, then then their spoken words would fall under the "Others" category. Sometimes you have not previously experienced the things you fear. It is possible that you fear what others have experienced, and your interpretations of what others have experienced have influenced you. The problem with fear is that the interpretations of factual experiences means that these difficult experiences will happen, or maybe happen again.

Fearing man, death, or potential for harm is to say that powerful hurt towards me and others will happen. What does it mean to fear God, though?

What it Means to Fear God

When a believer fears God in the Bible, she or he believes that God will powerfully care for me. Read the Biblical passage below:

"You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God. 18 Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. 19 The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely."

-Leviticus 25:17-19

This passage was written after Moses had given many directives and commands for the Hebrew people to love their neighbor in the previous chapters. For instance, in Leviticus 19:14 Moses says, "You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord." Later, in verse 32, Moses says, "You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord."

The last two verses in the book of Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14) state, "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Laws and regulations were given to Israel in the book of Leviticus, as shared above. Wisdom was given in the Book of Ecclesiastes from King Solomon of Israel. So what does it mean to fear God? When Israel fears God, they will obey him (Leviticus 25:18 above), and God powerfully takes care of them.

So we've looked at fearing God passages in the Old Testament. What about the New Testament? Would it agree that to fear God, as a believer, is to say that God will powerfully care for me? Read the passage below.

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (i.e. of the non-believer). 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value (i.e. the believer) than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men (i.e. the believer), I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men (i.e. the non-believer), I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

-Matthew 10:28-33

This passage has confused many Christians, including myself in the past. Notice that the non-believer will be powerfully removed from God (verse 28 and verse 33) and the believer will be powerfully cared for by Him (verse 31 and verse 32). After all, Jesus is speaking to His disciples here! Let's look at another passage.

"On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

-Mark 4:35-41

This passage is well known! You, like me, have probably heard many sermons on this one. Here is the commentary. After Jesus calms the storm, His disciples were afraid and had great fear towards Jesus. Was fear present because they were about to be powerfully harmed? No! The disciples feared Jesus because he had just powerfully cared for them by calming the storm.

Addressing Fear for the Christian

In summary, fear has to do with power, like the threat of the disciples losing their lives in the storm, or seeing the powerful care of God in calming the storm. If you are a Christian and you feel like you struggle with fearing God, as in, you feel scared of Him hurting you, then you do not actually fear God in that moment, Biblically speaking. Rather, you fear death, fear man (i.e. powerful harm against you), or the worst case scenario, like a storm. God loves you, Christian. When you fear God, you are saying that He is going to powerfully care for you. It makes sense that God says multiple times that He is our refuge or stronghold when there is trouble (Psalm 46:1, Psalm 52:7, Jeremiah 16:19, 2 Samuel 22:3).

Fearing God And The Disobedient Believer

So we've talked about what it means for the Believer to fear God. What about for the Non-Believer? Fearing God for the disobedient believer means God will powerfully harm him. And yet God does not harm him everytime! We will help you understand this later, but first read the Biblical passage below:

"And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah (i.e. Israelite), and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David feared the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”

-Samuel 6:7-9

From the passage above, why did King David fear the Lord? David feared God because he saw Uzzah disobey God by touching the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 4:15), and then God killed Uzzah, who was an Israelite (i.e. not a pagan). What does it mean to fear God if a believer disobeys? God will powerfully harm. This same pattern follow Acts 5:1-11, where the believers feared God and His powerful harm after Ananias and Saphira lied (i.e. disobeyed) about the profits from the sale of their land to benefit the early church. What happened to Ananias and Sapphira? God killed them immediately for disobeying. Read the next passage below.

“My flesh trembles for fear (i.e. Hebrew word for “dread”) of you, and I am afraid (i.e. Hebrew word for “fear”) of your judgments.”

-Psalm 119:120

Psalm 119 is a psalm of worship, love for God, and delight in His law. Although the authorship is unknown, it is obvious that this is a believer in Yahweh. For context, the author shares in Psalm 119:118 that God “spurns” those who disobey his law. Therefore, the author fears the powerful harm of God if he disobeys.

Ok, let's answer this question now. Does this mean God will powerfully harm you, Christian, every time you disobey? No, certainly not! Peter, one of Jesus's closest disciples renounced that he knew Jesus, 3 separate times (Luke 22:54-62). Matthew 10:33 states, "if you deny me (Jesus), I will deny you before my Father who is in heaven." Did Jesus deny Peter after Peter denied him, 3 times? No, Jesus restored him and showed him grace (John 21:15-17)!

Although these stories are uncomfortable and sobering to read, remember, if you are a believer and you obey God, you have no right to fear harm, fear the worst case scenario, or fear death. God will powerfully care for you.

The Non-Believer Who Fears God

If the non-believer fears God, then he fears that God will powerfully harm him. Let's read a passage about non-believers fearing God:

“I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us (i.e. the Canaanites), and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. 11 And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you.."

-Joshua 2:9-11

The commentary here is obvious. Canaanites (non-believers) feared the Harm of God, because of the harm done to the Egyptians in the Red Sea as well as the Amorite kings.

Further Study of Fear in The Believer's and Non- Believer's Life

In conclusion, if you are a believer in Jesus and obeying God, you have no right to fear God out of His potential to powerfully harm you; rather, He will powerfully care for you. God is full of Grace by forgiving you (Matthew 18:21-35). So go ahead and fear God, Christian.

If you would like to study this concept of fear in the believer's life even more, then read Psalm 34:11-22, which was written by King David during the time of difficulty with Abimelech. You will see the same pattern in regards to fearing God as shared above, that God will powerfully care for the believer. Also, Psalm 46 shows that God is a refuge, therefore you will not fear powerful harm against you, even if the earth gives way. Or even Romans 3:18, where Paul is citing Psalm 36:1, where non-believers do not have a fear of God; In other words, the non-believer does not believe God will powerfully care for him.

Other scripture references for further study: Genesis 42:12-20, Nehemiah 5:9, 14-19.

Counseling in Fort Worth for Fear and Anxiety

Cowtown Christian Counseling serves Fort Worth with counseling and therapy for fear and anxiety from a Christian perspective. Our counselors do their best to be careful surgeons of you and your experiences, as well as the Christian faith. If you would like to schedule an appointment, please click the "schedule" button at the top of this page.