How To Handle Fear Part 1
How To Handle Fear Part 2
How To Handle Fear Part 3
How To Handle Fear Part 4
Anxiety (merimna) - Word Study
Anxious, be anxious (merimnao) - Word Study

Jesus' solution "Do not be worried" Mt 6:25ff
Paul's Solution - Philippians 4:6; Philippians 4:7
Peter's Solution - Cast your cares on God - 1 Peter 5:7
Worry - What is it?

HOW TO HANDLE FEAR
PART 4

Other Thoughts, Quotes, etc on...

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

Jealousy is the emotional response to the fear of losing something or someone we love.

Fear is the sand in the machinery of life. -- E. Stanley Jones

The Devil's "...modus operandi is to manipulate you with the mysterious, to taunt you with the unknown. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of God, fear of tomorrow—his arsenal is vast. His goal? To create cowardly, joyless souls. He doesn’t want you to make the journey to the mountain. He figures if he can rattle you enough, you will take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in the flatlands." --Max L. Lucado

God incarnate is the end of fear; and the heart that realizes that he is in the midst . . . will be quiet in the midst of alarm. -- F. B. Meyer

Only he who can say, “The Lord is the strength of my life,” can say, “Of whom shall I be afraid?” -- Alexander Maclaren

The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else. -- Oswald Chambers

Whatever you fear (or supremely respect) the most you will serve. -- Rebecca Manley Pippert

I am sure that our Lord is looking for heavenly-minded Christians. His Word encourages us to trust Him with such a singleness of purpose that He is able to deliver us from the fear of death and the uncertainties of tomorrow. --A W Tozer

What a man is, is more important than what he does. What he does is only a symptom showing what he is. That which a man does out of desire is what the man really is. That which a man does out of fear will reveal what he is. Whatever a man does out of hate will show you what he is within. What does he do—because of jealousy or appetite or weakness? That will show you what he is.  -- A W Tozer

Not death but sin should be our great fear. --A W Tozer

Worry and fear are sort of Siamese twins. “Anxiety is a thin stream of fear, trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” -- Arthur Somers Roche

Related Resources...

Psalm 56:3 Faith Hand in Hand with Fear - Sermon by C H Spurgeon

Isaiah 41:10 Away with Fear - Sermon by C H Spurgeon (View HTML)

Isaiah 41:14 Fear Not - Sermon by C H Spurgeon

Isaiah 12:2, Ps 56:8 41:14 Fearing and Trusting - Trusting and Not Fearing - Sermon by C H Spurgeon

Matthew 14:31 Mr. Fearing Comforted - Sermon by C H Spurgeon

IT SEEMS AS if doubt were doomed to be the perpetual companion of faith. As dust attends the chariot wheels so do doubts naturally becloud faith. Some men of little faith are perpetually enshrouded with fears; their faith seems only strong enough to enable them to doubt. If they had no faith at all, then they would not doubt, but having that little, and but so little, they are perpetually involved in distressing surmises, suspicions, and fears. Others, who have attained to great strength and stability of faith, are nevertheless, at times, subjects of doubt. He who has a colossal faith will sometimes find that the clouds of fear float over the brow of his confidence. It is not possible, I suppose, so long as man is in this world, that he should be perfect in anything; and surely it seems to be quite impossible that he should be perfect in faith. Sometimes, indeed, the Lord purposely leaves His children, withdraws the divine inflowings of His grace, and permits them to begin to sink, in order that they may understand that faith is not their own work, but is at first the gift of God, and must always be maintained and kept alive in the heart by the fresh influence of the Holy Spirit. I take it that Peter was a man of great faith. When others doubted, Peter believed. He boldly avowed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, for which faith he received the Master's commendation, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." He was of faith so strong, that at Christ's command he could tread the billow and find it like glass beneath his feet, yet even he was permitted in this thing to fall. Faith forsook him, he looked at the winds and the waves, and began to sink, and the Lord said to him, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" As much as to say, "O Peter, thy great faith is my gift, and the greatness of it is my work. Think not that thou art the author of thine own faith; I will leave thee, and this great faith of thine shall speedily disappear, and like another who hath no faith, thou shalt believe the winds, and regard the waves, but shalt distrust thy Master's power, and therefore shalt thou sink." (Read full message Mr. Fearing Comforted)

Handling Your Fears by Brian Bill (Pontiac Bible Church)

Forsaking Our Fears by Brian Bill (Pontiac Bible Church)

Deuteronomy 33:27 Faith the Cancels Fear by Chuck Smith

Genesis 33:1-11 - Fear Follows Great Experience by Theodore Epp

Genesis 43:1-18 - Guilt Produces Fear Devotional by Theodore Epp

Psalm 34:9-22 - Fearing God Devotional by Theodore Epp

Romans 3:9-18 - Lives Most Important Fear by Theodore Epp

Anxiety by A W Pink (a brief devotional)

Anxious People and A Sovereign God by Greg Herrick

A Worried Christian? by John MacArthur

God's Way of Peace - A Book for the Anxious by Horatio Bonar

Numbers 14:22-23 Unbelief the Thief - Notes by Chuck Smith

Several sermons by John Piper (mp3 available)

Anxieties: To Be Cast Not Carried - 1 Peter 5:1-11

Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety - Matthew 6:25-34

Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God  Isaiah 41:1-13

Fear Not, You Worm Jacob!  Isaiah 41:14

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear 1 John 4:17-19

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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

 Ada Habershon wrote

"When I fear my faith will fail,
Christ will hold me fast;
When the tempter would prevail,
He can hold me fast."

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

On June 6, 1944, five thousand ships departed England for the Normandy coast and the greatest invasion of World War II. From this military event comes the story of the skipper who lectured his crew on fear, and said, "Fear is a very healthy thing." A third-class yeoman yelled in reply, "Captain, you're looking at the healthiest sailor in the United States Navy."

During Isaiah's time, King Ahaz and the people of Judah trembled like trees in a wind storm because of the Syrian and Ephraim alliance. Isaiah warned Ahaz and Judah about their misplaced fear; Syria and Ephraim were just two smoldering wood stubs that Assyria would put out in 722 B.C. Judah should fear a holy God, and in so doing, other fears would go away like the frequent east wind.

We tend to associate fear with punishment and danger, but that shows our limited understanding of it. Perfect fear comes from our sense of awe and wonder as we get glimpses of God. John says, "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Fear, for the Christian, is not so much about punishment as love. God-fearing people are God-loving people.

Fear can be healthy; but God must be the focus. In fearing God, we express not only awe but also trust and love. This frees us from rival and lesser fears and makes us both fearsome and fearless.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Loan shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25).

Fear of what others may think about us can play an important role in the way we act. The American Indians recognized this and used scorn and ridicule to promote social order. For instance, when a child of the Fox tribe was taught the do's and don'ts of Indian life, his elders didn't hold over his head an abstract rule of morality. Nor did they threaten him with punishment now or in the hereafter. Instead, they said to him, "The people of the village may say things about you."

Isaiah 51 also recognizes the power of peer pressure--but not as a motivation for right conduct. Whereas the Indians used fear of ridi­cule to induce good behavior, the Lord warned His people Israel that the "reproach of men" could be their downfall. Their concern with what others said about them could cause them to seek unholy human alliances and to make compromises. Instead, God called them to trust the Lord and seek only His approval.

This is also good advice for us, because "the fear of man" snares many Christians. If we order our conduct only by the approval or disapproval of others, we will be frustrated and left with a painful sense of insecurity.

When we find our fulfillment in doing what pleases God, the crip­pling terror of what others think will give way to the confidence of a healthy fear—a reverence for God that frees us to live for His approval. —M.R.D.II (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

The fear of God can deliver us from the fear of men.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

The Fear of Man or Woman by Elisabeth Elliot 

"The majority of men have thought of women as sublime separately but horrible as a herd," noted the wise G. K. Chesterton.

Alas. Are we so formidable? Robert Bly, in his best-selling IRON JOHN, declares that men are petrified of female anger. Then there's a TIME correspondent named Sam Allis who says

"Women are often daunting obstacles to male peace of mind, and for all their brave talk, men remain utterly flummoxed by the situation."

"The fear of man bringeth a snare," according to God's Word.

Me seemeth the fear of woman bringeth a worse one. These comments have set me thinking (again) about fear in general. If men and women were surer of their God there would be more genuine manliness, womanliness, and godliness in the world, and a whole lot less fear of each other.

Jesus told us not to fear those who can kill only the body, but rather to fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell--in other words, fear God and fear nothing else. Moses, by faith,

"left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27, NIV).

When Daniel learned of King Darius's decree forbidding prayer to any god or man except the king himself, he proceeded with his regular manner of worship, on his knees, windows open,

"just as he had done before," and was caught in the act (Daniel 6).

He feared God; therefore, he feared neither the king nor the lions. His three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, faced with the choice between two evils, worshipping a golden image or burning to a crisp in a furnace, made an instant decision (Daniel 3). Fear of God made worship of an idol unthinkable. Fear of the fire was, by comparison, thinkable. That's manliness.

Uzziah, who became king of Judah when he was sixteen, was taught by Zechariah to fear God. A child who is not taught to fear wrongdoing when he is small will have great difficulty learning to fear God when he is a man. "Freedom from fear" is what Russell Kirk calls "a silly piece of demagogic sophistry," for we all have "a natural yearning for the challenge of the dreadful."

One of the nicest things any of the listeners to my broadcast, has written to me came from a little girl: "You make me brave." Sometimes I wonder what has happened to words like courage and endurance. What reason is there in our feel-comfortable society ever to be brave? Very little, and, when you think about it, we miss it, don't we? To be really brave is to lay oneself open to charges of hypocrisy, of being "in denial," or out of touch with one's feelings. Moses charged Joshua to be strong and very courageous. Courage is not the absence of fear but the willingness to do the thing we fear. Go straight into the furnace or the lion's den. Were those men out of touch with their feelings or with reality? No. Nor was the psalmist who said,

"When I am afraid, I will trust" (Psalm 56:3, NIV).

There's a big difference between feeling and willing.

In George MacDonald's SIR GIBBIE the boy (Gibbie) is up in the mountains in a storm. He hears the sound of the river in flood and realizes it is headed straight for the cottage. He shoots after it.

"He is not terrified. One believing like him in the perfect Love and perfect Will of a Father of men, as the fact of facts, fears nothing. Fear is faithlessness.... A perfect faith would lift us absolutely above fear. It is in the cracks, crannies, and guilty faults of our belief, the gaps that are not faith, that the snow of apprehension settles and the ice of unkindness forms."

Do you feel, in spite of all the promises of God, as helpless as a worm today? There's a special word for you too:

"Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you" (Isaiah 41:14, NIV).

(Daniel 3, 6 Fear of Man)

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes .. . fear to whom fear (Romans 13:7).

One night I heard a radio preacher say that we should fear only God. But I don't agree. Peter exhorted servants to be subject to their mas­ters "with all fear" (1 Pet. 2:18) , and Paul said that wrongdoers should be afraid of civil authorities (Rom. 13:4) . A hierarchy of fear is an integral part of living on our sin-cursed planet. Our moral responsibil­ity is to put the things we fear in their proper place.

A boy whose friends urged him to experiment with illicit drugs told me he was afraid they would think of him as a coward, but he resisted because he was more frightened of the consequences. A young man who volunteered for dangerous military duty admitted he was scared of being wounded or killed, but he had a greater concern about what would happen if the enemy won the war. Both of these young men did what was right because they recognized the priority of certain fears.

The Bible teaches that our greatest fear should be of displeasing God. A believer who is told that he must either commit evil or face the firing squad should be more concerned about disobeying the Lord than being shot. That's what Jesus meant when He said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28).

Fear is part and parcel of life here on earth. But this strong emotion can serve us well if we let our fear of God be supreme. —H.V.L. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Shame arises from the fear of men,
conscience from the fear of God.
—Samuel Johnson

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

"Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and...who will be made like grass?" (Isaiah 51:12).

Phobias are nothing new to most Americans, but "cyberphobia" is. It's one of America's newest phobias. According to a team of business professors at George Mason University, a large number of people have cyberphobia—a serious fear of computers. Just being in the same room with one causes some to feel panic, have irregular heartbeat, breathing difficulties, dizziness, and trembling. One therapist says that these individuals have more than the normal fear of failure while learning to work with computers. They become so anxious that they fear passing out, going crazy, or losing control. This doesn't make sense to most of us, but then no phobia makes much sense. Yet the fear is real.

Many of us have another phobia that can be equally debilitating—the fear of the opinions and actions of others. Sometimes we think and act as if our fate and well-being rested solely in the hands of other people. Isaiah told us how it looks to the One who is in control when we become so afraid of people that we panic and forget to trust entirely in Him. He said that fearing the reproach of people is foolish because they are dying creatures who have little more real strength and lon­gevity than grass (Isa 51:12). The Lord knows what great harm people can do to us (Isa 51:13-14). But He has the last word. Our future and everlasting well-being depend on Him and Him alone. —M.R.D.II (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Faith can break the stranglehold of fear.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

So will I...bring their fears on them; because, when I called, no one answered (Isaiah 66:4).

Many people like to be scared, but only in the world of make-believe. They keep going to horror movies, but they don't like to be faced with legitimate causes for fear. A writer who depicts the threat of commu­nism in Central America is accused of using scare tactics. A Christian leader who dares suggest that some diseases may be God's judgment on sin is scorned. The general attitude is: "Never say anything about God's judgment to scare people into doing what's right."

Isaiah didn't hesitate to use fear in addressing God's people. Already afraid of the Assyrians, they accused him of treason because he warned the king against making an alliance with this nation. He responded, in essence: "You have far more reason to be afraid of what God will do than of what Assyria will do." He told them that if they made an alliance with Assyria God would punish them. The Almighty would become a rock to make them stumble, and a trap to take away their freedom.

The Bible declares that those who reject Jesus and continue in their wicked ways will find God to be their enemy. If this frightening thought motivates a person to trust Him for salvation, it has served a good purpose. Similarly, if fear causes a Christian to serve the Lord with new zeal, it has fulfilled a positive function. The fear of God is good because it leads to right living—even if it scares us. —H.V.L. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Fear God and you will have nothing else to fear.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

FAITH OR FEAR — WHICH?

Be anxious for nothing. Philippians 4:6

Worry is merely unbelief parading in disguise! The Scriptures repeatedly warn us against this grievous sin. Ian Maclaren ex-claims, "What does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it does empty today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil; it makes you unfit to cope with it when it comes. God gives us the power to bear all the sorrow of His making, but He does not guarantee to give us strength to bear the burdens of our own making such as worry induces."

An experienced physician decided to analyze the "worriers" who were his patients. He found that 40 percent of them were apprehensive over things that never happened. About 30 per-cent concerned themselves with past matters now beyond their control. Another 12 percent anxiously feared the loss of their health, although their only illness was in their imagination. And the rest worried about their families, friends, and neighbors, but in most cases he discovered no basis for their fears.

A bassoon player once came to the great conductor Toscanini with furrowed brow and complained that his instrument would not sound the high E flat. Toscanini smiled and replied, "Don't worry. There is no E flat in your music tonight." The musician had been needlessly apprehensive. Many of our worries are like that — unfounded and unnecessary.

Worry is both unprofitable and ungodly. God's grace will be sufficient for each day's need. Take comfort in this thought, and tread the pathway of life with faith, not fear! (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

I walked life's path with "Worry,"
Disturbed and quite unblessed,
Until I trusted Jesus;
Now "Faith" has given rest. — G.W.

Satan seeks to crush our spirit
by getting us to bear tomorrow's burdens with only today's grace!

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

Vance Havner wrote:

God pity the preacher who has grown cross‑eyed watching certain faces in his congregation to observe whether the message is acceptable or not. "The fear of man bringeth a snare" (Pr. 29:25), and the chilly countenances of resentful listeners who must not be disturbed have taken the heart out of more preachers than have all the infidels and higher critics. Well did Spurgeon say, "We admire a man who was firm in the faith four hundred years ago, but such a man is a nuisance today.

Puritan William Gurnall wrote that...

We fear men so much, because we fear God so little. One fear cures another. When man’s terror scares you, turn your thoughts to the wrath of God.

Our help is in the name of the Lord, but our fears are in the name of man.

To use oaths ordinarily and indifferently without being constrained by any cogent necessity, or called to it by any lawful authority, is such a sin as wears off all reverence and dread of the great God; and we have very great cause to suspect that where His name is so much upon the tongue there His fear is but little in the heart. --EZEKIEL HOPKINS

By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil, by the fear of man they run themselves into evil. -- JOHN FLAVEL

Our help is in the name of the Lord, but our fears are in the name of man. -- WILLIAM GREENHILL

The wicked is a very coward, and is afraid of everything; of God, because He is his enemy; of Satan, because he is his tormentor; of God’s creatures, because they, joining with their Maker, fight against him; of himself, because he bears about with him his own accuser and executioner. The godly man contrarily is afraid of nothing, not of God, because he knows Him his best friend and will not hurt him, not of Satan, because he cannot hurt him, not of afflictions, because he knows they come from a loving God, and end in his good; not of the creatures, since “the very stones in the field are in league with Him”; not of himself, since his conscience is at peace. -- JOSEPH HALL

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer
Our Daily Walk.

COURAGE IN LIFE'S STORMS

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Genesis 46:3 Fear not to go down into Egypt.

Probably the old man, remembering the experiences of Abraham, was very fearful to adventure himself into Egypt. Besides, was it not as though, in going thither, he renounced the Land of Promise? Therefore this special bidding and assurance were the more necessary.

When our heart misgives us, let us look out for one of God’s fear-nots. — His eye is ever upon the righteous, and his ear open to their cry. One upward glance or tremulous prayer will make Him ride on a cherub to our side, and whisper, “Be not afraid; fear not, I am with thee.”

God’s promises are fulfilled in most unexpected ways. — He had always foretold that the seed of Abraham should outnumber stars and sands; but who would have supposed that the promise would be realized amid the pressure and persecution of Egypt? Yet so it happened. “I will there make of thee a great nation.” We must not judge after the sight of our eyes, nor act on what is known as our common sense; faith is led by very uncommon paths. Trust and obey!

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Leviticus 26:6 None shall make you afraid.

But we are afraid, often very greatly so. How can we be secured from the dread of men and things which so easily besets us?

We must be absolutely right with God. — To walk in God’s statutes, and keep his commandments, was the first condition of Israel’s immunity from fear. When we know that there is no cause of controversy between us and God, we feel able to count confidently on his protection and deliverance. “Perfect love casteth out fear.”

We must count on God’s faithfulness. — He has put us where we are, and we dare not think He will withdraw from us, as Joab did from Uriah. We are his partners, summoned to co-operate with Him: will He allow us to incur responsibilities in his name, and then leave the burden on our unassisted resources? Fear will yield before a clear sense of God’s might; but it is still more likely to yield before a deep sense of God’s perfect faithfulness.

We must rely on the environment of angel keepers. — When David, during his flight before Absalom, slept in the open, he believed that the Angel of the Lord encamped around him. More are they which are for us than those that be against us. The mountain is full of horses and chariots of fire. Lord, open our eyes that we may see!

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

If we were not saved for our goodness, we shall not be lost for the lack of it. — When we have been betrayed into sin, in the keenness of our remorse, the fear is suggested lest God should put us utterly away. And there would be ground for the fear if we had been chosen because of our righteousness.

But since our original acceptance with God did not depend on works of righteousness which we had done, but on his mercy in Jesus Christ, it will not be undone by our failures. This thought does not lead to carelessness and indifference, but to a holy fear of sinning.

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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Psalm 49:5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil?

Have I not God? At sundry times and in divers manners, He spake to, and succoured his saints. Will He not come to me, and cast around me the soft mantle of his protecting love? And if I love Him, do I need any beside?

“Who that one moment has the least descried Him, Dimly and faintly, hidden and afar, Doth not despise all excellence beside Him, Pleasures and powers that are not, and that are?”

Did He not walk with Enoch, and then take him home, before the deluge came? Did He not shut Noah in, with his own hand, that there should be no jeopardy from the overflowing flood? Did He not assure Abram that He was his shield and exceeding great reward, quieting his fears against any possible combination of foes? Did He not preserve his servant Moses from the fury of Pharaoh and the murmurings of Israel? Was not Elijah hidden in the secret of his pavilion from the wrath of Ahab? Did He not send his angel to shut the lions’ mouths that they might not hurt Daniel? Were not the coals of the burning fiery furnace as sweet and soft as forest glades to the feet of the three young confessors? Has God ever forsaken those that trusted Him? Has He ever given them over to the will of their enemies?

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Psalm 124:1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side.

Here is an If which cannot be an if. It is never a matter of uncertainty whether the Lord will be on our side or not. For the Lord Jesus in his incarnation and death has taken his place beside us for evermore. He is always on our side, so long as we keep his paths and walk in his ways.

“Though unperceived by mortal sense, Faith sees Him always near, A Guide, a Guardian, a Defence; Then what have you to fear?”

There are in all human lives hours of overpowering anxiety, when we feel as though it were impossible to live another moment — exposed to danger, separated from dear ones, not knowing what an hour may bring forth. Then, as you look up, you find that the Lord is beside you, sharing your anxieties, and affording you his inviolable protection. You cannot descry Him by the eye of sense, but you know Him to be there, and neither man nor devil can prevail against you.

When we look back on life, as the psalmist does here, we become aware of the myriad instances of Divine protection. We were not so vividly conscious at the time; we might even have had fits of depression and counted ourselves bereft. But if we narrowly consider the perils from which we have been rescued, when we were about to be swallowed up quick, we become convinced that He was there. In life and death and judgment, Jesus, your Advocate, will ever stand at your side and “silence all who would condemn. So that with good courage you may say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: what shall man or devil do unto me!”

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Psalm 130:4 - There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.

Yes, thank God, there is forgiveness, because at his right hand He liveth for evermore who put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Forgiveness at any moment for the sins of a life; repeated forgiveness for the sins of every hour; forgiveness instantaneously upon confession. He pardoneth and absolveth all those who truly repent and unfeignedly believe in Him of whom the Gospel speaks. And when God once speaks forgiveness, it can never be unspoken. Fear and doubt and misgiving may question, but cannot revoke it. Based on the Blood of the Covenant, on promises ratified by the most solemn assurances, there is irrevocable forgiveness with God. Weary, sinning, ashamed soul, the fountain of God’s forgiveness springs perennially from his heart; as clear and full as when that fountain was first opened for sin and uncleanness. Take it and go your way. Even if there be no rush of emotion, or sense of pardon, yet dare to believe that your cries and tears and confessions have been heard and answered.

Just because God is so ready to forgive, there is wrought within our hearts an ever-deepening dread of giving Him pain. There is forgiveness with Him, that He may be feared. There is a greater fear in the heart of the true child of God of grieving his Father than there is in the unregenerate of the penalty of transgression. The element of fear comes back into our nature, refined and purified through the fires of love. There is no fear in love; and yet love fears with a perpetual dread of giving needless pain. Because God is a consuming fire of tender love, let us serve Him with godly fear.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Isaiah 8:12–13 The Lord of Hosts, let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.

The land was panic-stricken for fear of the coalition of Samaria and Damascus. The politicians were seeking the alliance of Assyria, whilst the superstitious had recourse to familiar spirits and wizards. Amid the panic the voice of Isaiah is heard bidding the people fear with only one kind of fear. Not their fear, but the fear of God; not their dread, but his. The apostle Peter quotes these words, when he says, “If ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessed are ye; and fear not their fear, neither be troubled; but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord” (1 Peter 3:15, r.v.).

On the prairies men often fight fire with fire. Against the career of the wall of flame there is but one resource; before it reaches the terrified fugitives they must light a fire to sweep the ground bare, that when the advancing horror reaches the spot there will be no fuel left for it to feed on. So with the heart of man, the only true preservation from fear of our fellows is an overmastering fear of our God. Sanctify Him in your hearts. Let Him be your fear and dread.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Daniel 10:19 O man greatly beloved, fear not; peace be unto thee, be strong, yea be strong.

Why should we fear? We are loved, greatly beloved; loved to God’s uttermost; loved to the gift of his Only-begotten; loved to tears; loved to blood-shedding and death. It is said that Jesus, having loved his own, which were in the world, loved them unto the end; not to the end of his human ministry, but to the uttermost of what love can be (John 13:1, r.v., marg.).

Why should we fear? Has God done so much, and will He not do all? Has He brought us out of Egypt to let us perish in the wilderness? Is He so careful of the soul, and so careless of all beside? There are mysteries—mysteries of life and death, of sin and sorrow, of this world and the next; but fear not: God is ours, and we are his by immutable and indissoluble ties.

Let us possess ourselves in peace. We cannot understand, but we can trust. We may not know the way we are going, but we can lean back on the heart of our Guide; standing in the cleft of the Rock we can look out in peace on dreaded evils as they pass away together, dismayed and amazed. If only we are acquainted with God, we shall be at peace, and thereby good will come to us. They fear who look at circumstances, and not into God’s face.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

Matthew 28:5 The angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye!

The emphasis is on the pronoun ye. The angel meant, As for these sentinels that are quaking in dread and becoming as dead men, it is meet and natural that they should do so. They are strangers to Him whom ye seek, and are set here to do the work of his foes. But there is no need for those that seek Jesus to fear.

Are you seeking the forgiveness of your sins through his blood? Fear net be! Do not fear that they are too many to be forgiven. Do not fear that you have not the right faith. Do not fear that you will find his door shut. Do not fear that He will always be remanding you of what you have cost Him. Do not fear that He will let you drift from Him again. Ye seek the Lord who was crucified. Fear not!

Are you seeking a closer identification with his death? Fear not! There is no possibility of realizing the life which is life indeed, except through identification with the death and grave of Jesus. We must sink deep down into reunion with Him who lay there as our representative. But as God takes us at our word, and begins to strip us of all we had taken pride in; as the fear of what may be involved crosses our hearts with its chill dread — again we may be assured as we hear the angel say, “Fear not, ye who seek Jesus that was crucified.”

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
F B Meyer 
Our Daily Homily

1 Peter 3:14 Fear not their fear, neither be troubled. (r.v.)

It was a time of very real and fiery trial when Peter wrote these words. Persecution was already beginning with the House of God. The first mutterings of the awful storm which was to break in Nero’s terrible atrocities were making themselves heard throughout the Roman world. The intention of this Epistle, therefore, was to encourage these scattered saints, that they might not be overwhelmed. Some who read these words may need similar comfort.

Remember, beloved fellow-believers, that Jesus has suffered; your Lord and Master has trodden these thorns before you. See, they are flecked with his blood. Would you not desire to be fellow-partaker with Him in his sorrow, that you may share his glory? It is only in suffering that we can properly identify ourselves with the great anguish of the world, or learn to comfort or pray for others. And, probably, none know the innermost tenderness and companionship of Jesus like those who daily fill up that which is behind of his sufferings. Besides, their fear is much worse in anticipation than in actual experience. Probably God entirely delivers his martyrs from those physical tortures which to onlookers might seem unbearable.

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
TWO KINDS OF FEAR

Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!--Psalm 34:9

Perfect love casts out fear.--1 John 4:18

I felt fear when I thought of going home. Because of my carelessness, our lovely console TV had fallen out of the trunk of my car and was badly marred. No, I wasn't afraid that my wife would yell at me or hit me. What I feared was the look of disappointment I would see in her face. Yet home was the place I wanted to be.

My fear was the kind of fear we should feel in relation to God. This is the mature fear advocated in Psalm 34:9 and many other Scripture passages. It is the fear of disappointing the Lord because we love Him so much, and because we so much appreciate His love for us.

The fear of punishment is an immature fear. This is the fear that is cast out by the "perfect love" mentioned in 1 John 4:18. This kind of fear isn't entirely bad, though. It's often a factor in causing a person to believe in Christ, and it may also keep a Christian from serious sin. But as we grow in our faith, we will obey God because we love Him so much that we don't want to disappoint Him. Pleasing Him will be our supreme desire.

Lord, deliver us from an immature fear of punishment by developing in us a deep awareness of Your love and a profound desire to please You. - HVL (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

"Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body" (Matthew 10:28).

All sorts of fears obsess believers. Although some may be legitimate, most are vague, nameless feelings of apprehension. They rob us of confidence and joy, and keep us from spiritual health and effective­ness. The Bible has the solution to this problem. When we learn the fear of God, we will not be controlled by earthly terrors.

A young boy living in Holland when it was occupied by the Nazis during World War II, wrote the following in his journal: "Last week three German officers stopped my dad in the hallway. They held him at gunpoint and forced him to open the steel door leading to the basement. One of them ordered Dad to show the crawl space under the hallways. He said if he didn't tell where the hidden weapons are, he will be shot. Dad usually is not a great hero. He's even afraid of the dentist. But this time he is not afraid at all. One of them cocked his Luger and held it against my Dad's temple. Dad recited the Bible verse that was on his mind, `And fear not them who kill the body, . . . but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.' The Germans looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and then left. The steel heels of their boots made a clanging noise on the iron stairway."

This boy's father feared God more than he did the enemy. Having that kind of attitude will help us put all our fears in perspective. —D.C.E. (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -

Charles Spurgeon
Morning and evening
March 3 AM

“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” - Isaiah 48:10

Comfort thyself, tried believer, with this thought: God saith, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Does not the word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yea, is it not an asbestos armour, against which the heat hath no power? Let affliction come—God has chosen me. Poverty, thou mayst stride in at my door, but God is in the house already, and he has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayst intrude, but I have a balsam ready—God has chosen me. Whatever befalls me in this vale of tears, I know that he has “chosen” me. If, believer, thou requirest still greater comfort, remember that you have the Son of Man with you in the furnace. In that silent chamber of yours, there sitteth by your side One whom thou hast not seen, but whom thou lovest; and ofttimes when thou knowest it not, he makes all thy bed in thy affliction, and smooths thy pillow for thee. Thou art in poverty; but in that lovely house of thine the Lord of life and glory is a frequent visitor. He loves to come into these desolate places, that he may visit thee. Thy friend sticks closely to thee. Thou canst not see him, but thou mayst feel the pressure of his hands. Dost thou not hear his voice? Even in the valley of the shadow of death he says, “Fear not, I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.” Remember that noble speech of Caesar: “Fear not, thou carriest Caesar and all his fortune.” Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee. In all thy fiery trials, his presence is both thy comfort and safety. He will never leave one whom he has chosen for his own. “Fear not, for I am with thee,” is his sure word of promise to his chosen ones in the “furnace of affliction.” Wilt thou not, then, take fast hold of Christ, and say—

A BOLD DECLARATION

"Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea. "(Psalm 46:2)

“The very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matt. 10:30).

Spurgeon comments that this verse literally means what it says. God’s wisdom and knowledge are so great that He even knows the number of hairs on your head. His providence descends to the minute dust particles in a summer storm. He numbers the gnats in the sunshine and the fish in the sea. He controls the massive planets that shine in the heavens, and He deals with the teardrops that trickle from your eyes. He who supports the dignity of His throne in the splendor of heaven maintains it in the depths of the dark sea. There is nothing above, under, or around you that is not determined by His counsel and will.

I am not a fatalist, but I strictly hold to the doctrine that God has decreed all things that come to pass and that He rules over all things for His glory and good. What have we to fear? The unbeliever looks at the lightning and is apprehensive, but the Christian believes that it follows a predestined path, and he contemplates it with confidence. At sea, when the waves dash against a ship and toss it to and fro, some panic because they think that this is all chance. But believers see order in the waves. They hear music in the wind and are at peace because the tempest is in God’s hand. Why then should we fear?

In all this world’s convulsions, in all temporary distress and danger, we can remain calm, collected, and boldly say with confidence, “I know God is here and all this is working for my good.”

“Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (Ps. 46:2).

Anytime we are engaged in a work for God, we are likely to encounter the poison-tipped arrows of ridicule. A barrage of truth mingled with lies, innuendo, malicious gossip and implied threats is the normal experience of leaders. Malice arises from fear. And fear is a common response to someone else’s success. So expect to have your faults thrown in your face, your folly mocked and your real progress belittled. When this happens, by all means allow yourself to be cut down to size, but do not let yourself be dismayed or intimidated. Remember that the chorus of contempt has a diabolical conductor whose aim is to make your knees buckle. He likes tongue-tied, ineffective Christians and plays on your secret fears and inferiorities to make you one of them.

I am full of fears and chasms of inferiority. Whenever I have listened to the enemy pointing them out I have stopped working for the kingdom. Yet in those moments when I have refused to listen to him and have feebly walked in obedience, I have been astonished at what God has done with my feeble performance. - John White

Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there.

Fear is generated by unbelief, and unbelief strengthened by fear. Nothing can cure us of fear till God cures us of unbelief. - Francis Burkitt

Only he who can say, 'The Lord is the strength of my life' can say, 'Of whom shall I be afraid?' - Alexander Maclaren

The presence of God does so stay the soul and quiet the heart that fear, which hath torment, is driven away. - Spurgeon

If you are enabled to rise above fear in times of alarm then will those who see you say, "This is a man of God and this is God's work upon his soul. - Spurgeon

Live so that you need not change your mode of living, even if your sudden departure were immediately predicted to you. When you so live you will look upon death without fear. - Spurgeon

Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion or fear, and is followed by regret and alteration. - Spurgeon

Fear is the sand in the machinery of life. - E. Stanley Jones

We are so afraid of being offensive that we are not effective. - Vance Havner

Those who would be fearless must keep themselves guiltless. - Matthew Henry

His (ED: Our Adversary) modus operandi is to manipulate you with the mysterious, to taunt you with the unknown. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of God, fear of tomorrow—his arsenal is vast. His goal? To create cowardly, joyless souls. He doesn’t want you to make the journey to the mountain. He figures if he can rattle you enough, you will take your eyes off the peaks and settle for a dull existence in the flatlands. - Max L. Lucado
 

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Needy miners and settlers in British Columbia, engaged in stripping abandoned Fort Alcan of lumber, electrical appliances, and plumbing, made an amazing discovery. While dismantling the jail they found that the mighty locks were attached to the heavy doors, and two-inch steel bars covered the windows, but the walls of the prison were only patented wallboard of clay and paper, painted to resemble iron. A good old heave against the walls by a man not as strong as a football tackle would have burst the wall out. Nobody ever tried it because nobody thought it possible. Many Christians are prisoners of fears that are nothing when pushed against. Satan cannot do anything against a child of God, but he loves to put barriers of papier-mache in the path of a believer to make him think that there is no progress in the direction of the will of the Lord. When by faith we push against it we will be free. —Eternity

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Leighton Ford writes...

When I am conscious of the fear of failure holding me back, I go through a kind of personal checklist:

1. Does this fear come basically from pride, a fear that I will not live up to my own expectations or to those of others?
2. Do I remember that God has called me first to faithfulness, then to efficiency?
3. Do I trust that the Holy Spirit is working before me, with me, and through me?
4. Do I remember that I am called to be neither more nor less successful than Jesus Christ was?
5. Do I remember that God does his greatest work when I seem to be weakest? Isn’t that, after all, the mystery of the cross?

What Makes People Hesitate to Share Their Faith?

What makes people hesitate to share their faith? Here are some of the fears that have been mentioned to me:

1. “I am afraid I might do more harm than good.”
2. “I don’t know what to say.”
3. “I may not be able to give snappy answers to tricky questions.”
4. “I may seem bigoted.”
5. “I may invade someone’s privacy.”
6. “I am afraid I might fail.”
7. “I am afraid I might be a hypocrite.”

Overcome by sin Perhaps the most common fear, however, is that of being rejected. A survey was given to those attending training sessions for the Billy Graham crusade in Detroit. One question asked, “What is your greatest hindrance in witnessing?”

1. 9% said they were too busy to remember to do it.
2. 28% felt the lack of real information to share. None said they didn't really care.
3. 12% said their own lives were not speaking as they should.
4. But by far the largest group were the 51% whose biggest problem was the fear of how the other person would react!