Overcoming Fear – A Key to Health and Healing

In spite of what they say, 90% of the chronic patients who see today’s physicians have one common symptom. Their trouble did not start with cough or chest pain or hyperacidity. In 90% of the cases, the first symptom was fear. 

This is the opinion of a well-known American internist as expressed in a roundtable discussion on psychosomatic medicine. This is also the consensus of a growing body of specialists. Fear of losing a job, of old age, of being exposed—sooner or later this fear manifests itself as “a clinical symptom.” Diseases with a link to fear include cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, digestive-tract diseases, crohn’s disease, bowel syndromes, ulcers, headaches, skin disorders, immune dysfunctions.

Clinicians recognize about 12 relatively distinct subtypes of anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders have surpassed depression and alcoholism as the number-one mental-health problem in
America. At sometime during their lives, nearly a quarter (24.9%) of the adult population in the
United States will suffer with an anxiety disorder.

One of the best descriptions I have read of someone who suffers with anxiety disorder was on a website for Phobias. It read:

If you suffer from phobia and fear, you probably don’t want to talk about it or want people to know that you have this disorder. Why? We both know the answer to that question.First, deep down inside you may feel that there is something “wrong” with you – that you’re different. And out of control at times. That’s because you experienced phobia or fear that you may be defective in some way that can never be fixed. Second, somewhere inside you may feel that no one really understands you and how you feel. No matter how compassionate, understanding or competent a friend or therapist may be, you know that they haven’t experienced the feeling and terror that you experience in your body.  Third–and this may be the toughest part, just talking about your phobia and fear symptoms brings on the symptoms themselves. You are in a kind of “Catch-22″ situation. Perhaps the most tragic part of phobia and fear is that they prevent you from living life to the fullest. You may not want to go to certain places or experience certain events for fear it may trigger your phobia or fear. Regardless, phobia and fear prevent us from living a joyful, vibrant life. The good news is that there is  a way out!

Fear is something that I studied all my life. I thank God that he is able to help us conquer this enemy of our soul.

I remember being a child and when I started fearing.

Fear of the dark, fear of mugging, fear of Abandonment, fear of traveling, fear of water.

fear of rejection and fear of failure.

Later this would blow up into a fear of traveling and eventually a bad case of claustrophobia. It got so bad that I was afraid to go to sleep, because I was afraid to get up and start fearing all over again.

The best thing that happened in my life was the Lord. At a young age I had to learn to lean on him. I knew more about cognitive psychology by the age twelve than most therapists. I had to. It was the way I learned to survive. Later in my Master’s study in Psychology I learned that I had been practicing crude methods of cognitive restructuring, stop thought techniques, systematic desensitizing that I learned from trial and error.

Over time the Lord has helped me with all my fears. His abiding presence. The power of His word, His promises and the Holy Spirit that has groaned on my behalf, far more than He has for others, has made all the difference in my life. Faith was no trite word for me. My whole life was either fear or faith. My friend, if the Lord has helped me, I know He can help you.

Let’s look at worry, anxiety and fear and how God can set you free. 

Worry

The first form of fear is worry. This is different from concern. “Concern” means to “have an interest in, give attention to, be engaged by a situation, as a matter of consideration or responsibility” BUT “worry” is a disquieted uneasiness of mind, an anxious apprehension concerning an impending or anticipated situation; fretting about a foreboding misfortune or failure.

“Concern” becomes “worry” when we fail to relate the situation that confronts us to the source of sufficiency in God. To worry is to assume a responsibility that is not necessarily ours to assume; failing to recognize that God is bigger than any problem we might have, and loves us enough to seek our highest good in the midst of every situation.

Worry is a form of humanistic self-orientation that thinks, “It’s up to me to take care of this situation,” and is thus a form of practical atheism, acting as if there is no God to deal with the situation, or that God doesn’t know or care about the situation.

When I worry, what are the lies I believe?

God does not care

God does not make a difference

I must do everything myself

Things must go my way

I can’t trust God with any outcomes

Faith – The Cure for Worry

Believing God is in charge of all things and that we can rely on Him to do what is eternally best for us.

Romans 8:35—39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Nothing can separate us from His love but the trouble is that worry doesn’t believe it! Soon worry becomes a habit. The good news is that most habits can be broken. When I first realized this, I felt real hope. What joy flooded my soul when I finally understood that I was not a victim of something outside of me but that I was making a choice to worry and that faith was a choice too!

The question is “WHAT DO WE CHOOSE?”

Jesus said in John 14:1, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.” 

Jesus said it best in Matt 6—“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life! Do not worry about tomorrow!”

HERE IS A CHOICE:I Peter 5:7 Cast all your care on Him for He cares for you!

When we come up against something and start to worry we need to take a hold of fear and call it what it is, a “SIN”. We need to renounce it, repent of it and substitute faith for it.

Anxiety

The second form of fear is “anxiety”. This is an abnormal, overwhelming apprehension; anguished uncertainty and self-doubt about one’s ability to cope with the situation, to the point of becoming distressed, distraught, panicky or tormented.

Anxiety is different than fear in that fear has an object that it is fearful of BUT anxiety lacks an object or adequate cause. People are anxious because they are uncertain about a  specific outcome. Consider these scripture verses:

         Ps. 38:18 – “I am full of anxiety because of my sin”

         Ps. 94:19 – “my anxious thoughts multiply within me”

         Prov. 12:25 – “anxiety in the heart of man weighs it down”

What I am full of anxiety, what are the lies I believe?

God is not in charge

Things have to go my way

I will not be loved

Something is going to go wrong

I cannot make a mistake

It’s all about me

TRUST is a Biblical Cure for Anxiety

Ps. 37:3-7

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;  

We trust God when we pray to Him about our situations and leave it with Him. Paul tells us how to handle anxiety:

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing! But in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Fear

We have considered worry and anxiety, but what about fear? Fear is an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a feeling of fright or flight) It is a painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger;

Fear can range from a healthy fear to phobias that are irrational fears.

When we are fearful, what are the lies we believe?

I am alone

No one loves me

God is not able to help me

God is not in control

I’m a victim

Cure for Fear—Truth 

Dr. Edmund Bourne is a famous cognitive psychologist in the field of anxiety disorders. He wrote the classic book, The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook. Yet because of his own reoccurrence of anxiety, he was forced to say that there are limits on his own theories. He concluded,

In my own experience, spirituality has been important and I believe it will come to play an increasingly role in the psychology of the future.

While there is no evidence of Bourne being a believer in Jesus Christ, he does acknowledge the Spirit/emotional link.

Two ways to let truth permeate our mind and heart is through prayer and meditation

Look at what the Bible says about this:

Joshua 1:7-9

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” 

II Tim 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

We need these to help tear down the strongholds.

II Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  

What are STRONGHOLDS?

As we look at the passage we just read we see that strongholds are “arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,”

It is anything that takes occupies our mind and will and holds us captive keeping us from choosing to do the will of God.  Addictions, poor habits, bitterness and yes fear.

This is why Paul told us to take every thought “captive.” These negative thoughts of fear are the enemy and we need to capture them and replace them.

But we need to be careful. Unfortunately, we often see Spiritual warfare portrayed as a shouting match, a power struggle. But the truth is that true Spiritual warfare is not a power struggle it is a TRUTH encounter. We need the truth of the word.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.   

Paul talks of the battle we have. We need all the spiritual armor, but if we are going to conquer strongholds we need offensive weapons—Paul writes about two,  the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and praying in the Spirit!

First the word of God

Hebrews 4:12 says

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 

I firmly believe that the Bible is able to is able to change our minds imprint to our very cellular being. He can heal us through His word and power!

Second, prayer

The practice of praying scripture changed my life. Praying the word is my favorite type of Meditation. There is nothing short of doing it. I am producing some guided meditations praying scriptures. You can listen to these and enjoy time with God.

God is able to help us with fear. When we acknowledge our negative attitudes, renounce them, truly repent and then replace them with the truth we will see victory. Pray His word and you will find that fear will dissipate and God will give victory over this stronghold!

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