Fear can feel like a warning system we can't turn off. We worry about the future, replay conversations, imagine everything that could go wrong, and slowly discover that anxiety has taken more from us than we realized. It can affect our faith, relationships, peace, time, gratitude, and even our ability to experience joy. Yet Philippians 4:6-7 offers a different response: instead of carrying our fears alone, we can bring them to God through prayer and thanksgiving and trust Him with what we cannot control.
The good news is that fear doesn't have to have the final word. When anxiety starts shaping the way we see God, ourselves, or the people around us, Scripture calls us back to truth. We can choose faith over fear, gratitude over constant worry, connection over isolation, and prayer over overthinking. God doesn't promise that we will never have reasons to be afraid, but He does promise a peace that can guard our hearts and minds even when our circumstances haven't changed.
Highlights
- How fear can quietly rob you of faith and trust in God
- Why anxiety makes it harder to recognize and appreciate everyday blessings
- How fear can distort the way we see the people around us
- Why peace and persistent fear cannot comfortably occupy the same space
- How overthinking can consume valuable time without actually solving the problem
- Practical ways to shift your attention from fear toward gratitude, prayer, and positive action
- Finding lasting joy by focusing on God rather than everything that could go wrong
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Full Transcript Below:
How Fear Robs You
By Aaron D’Anthony Brown
Bible Reading:
“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, CSB)
Can you relate to worrying about something that you had no business worrying about in the first place? You knew everything would work out; perhaps the stakes were low, or maybe you were prepared for whatever happened. Still, nervousness ate at you.
Anxiety grew.
We hear that word so much these days. Anxiety. And it’s such an innate part of the human experience. Some struggle more than others, but we all have those pressure points that cause us to fret every now and again. What will the future bring, or what won’t it bring?
The word anxiety didn’t come about until the 16th Century, but the concept isn’t new. God’s Word talks about human fear time and time again, from Adam and Eve to Peter denying Jesus.
Fear of the future leads to us making silly, and even reckless, choices. So, while we have fear in common, what we also have in common is what fear takes away from us. This is especially true when we sit with our worries for a prolonged period of time.
If you’ve been living like that, take hope. You’re not the first to struggle with rational or irrational fears. You won’t be the last. But each of us can find encouragement in the same place. Our Father in Heaven.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
Let’s go over a few things fear robs from each of us when we submit to it, and what we can do instead.
Fear robs you of faith.
The most obvious thing fear takes from us is faith, our ability to believe in and trust God. When fear’s talking, more than likely, our ears are not attuned to what God has to say.
Instead of thinking fear is telling the truth, consider whether truth instead resides with God. Hint, it does. However hard it may be, keep a record of all the times your anxiety turned out to be true versus God’s Word.
Fear robs you of gratitude.
Anxiety always causes us to overanalyze, overestimate, and underappreciate. Rather than thinking about all the things that could go wrong, ask yourself what could go right. When you weigh what could go wrong versus right, which seems more likely?
Fear robs you of connection.
By its very nature, anxiety consists of thinking negatively. That often means we think negatively of other people, however justified we may feel. The issue is that oftentimes anxiety is inaccurate, and as a result, we’ve given in to an inaccurate view of the other person.
Don’t dwell on their faults. Remember, they, too, are made in the image of God.
Fear robs your peace.
As mentioned, fear leads to negative thinking. You can’t be at peace while your mind is riddled with fear. You have to pick one and walk in that direction, doing all that you can to find it.
Fear robs your time.
How many times have you sat in one spot incessantly thinking about an issue, going over the ins and outs? How many times have you rehashed the same conversations over and over again with the same friend?
There’s a better way to be. Focusing on our issues often exacerbates the problem. But more to the point, instead of dwelling on fear, we ought to keep moving. Doing positive things to focus on more positive thinking.
Taking time to reflect and talk things out is important, but moderate yourself. Don’t give in to the urge to indulge. You won’t feel better, and the problem will just be more cemented in your thinking.
Fear robs you of joy.
Not only is peace impossible when you live life according to your fears. There’s also no way to be happy. Your mind is thinking about all that is going wrong, or could go wrong, instead of the myriad of blessings we experience every day. And we do experience them daily.
You just have to get specific and keep reminding yourself of them day by day. Anxiety is natural for the human condition, but finding joy in God is better for the human condition.
Further Reading:
1 Peter 5:7
Matthew 6:34
Proverbs 3:5-6
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