Fear Torments Us
In 2005, a Gallup poll was conducted in the United States.
Adolescents between the ages of 13 and 15 were questioned regarding their
fears. The top 10 fears among this group were compiled from the answers
that were given. They were terrorist attacks, spiders, death, being a
failure, war, criminal or gang violence, being alone, the future, and nuclear
war. In many cases, fear comes from the perception of danger not necessarily
the presence of danger. Fear can be classified in two categories:
rational and irrational. Irrational fear is also known as a phobia.
Traumatic experiences may also trigger a fear response in people. Rational fear due to imminent danger will trigger a fight or flight
response. All of our fear responses initiate in our brain whether
rational or irrational. The five parts of the brain that process this
information are the thalamus, sensory cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and the
hypothalamus. The thalamus determines where to send the data that is
received from our senses. The sensory cortex interprets this data. The
hippocampus stores and retrieves conscious memories. The amygdala decodes
emotions, determines possible threats, stores fear memories. The
hypothalamus activates the fight or flight response.
In the absence of a sound mind, fear has the freedom to take
up residence within us. Fear can be crippling because it is such a strong
demonic force. The spirit of fear
can open the door to other demonic forces such as bitterness and jealousy.
It is difficult to feel the love of God or accept the love of God in the
presence of fear. Fear will not voluntarily leave us. We have to address the spirit and cast it
out. Many times in order to effectively do this, we may have to
search out and revisit the origin of the fear. When we understand the
root of the fear, we can address it and pray specifically against it. The
spirit of fear counts on our avoidance and tolerance of it in order to keep its
hold on us. The longer that we permit it to reside within us, the deeper
the roots settle. We must present our requests to God with thanksgiving;
His peace will go beyond all levels of understanding and guard our hearts and
minds in Jesus to counteract the fear.
Deliverance is the Solution
For many years, the devil has enjoyed our ignorance of many
things and has used it to his advantage to keep us in bondage. The Bible declares that therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:36) It also states
that if we abide in the word of God, we will know the truth and the truth shall
make you free. (John 8:32) Many times in churches it has
been taught to shout our issues away or dance our issues away or even praise
our issues away instead of confronting our issues. Praise is essential in
our lives and we are instructed by the Word of God to offer praise unto God.
But when it comes to our issues,
we must deal with them instead of attempting to apply a quick fix. The
devil wants us to search out temporary fixes or ineffective resolutions with
the hopes that we will never focus on the root of the problem, thus enabling
him to maintain his grip on us. The Bible teaches us about the gifts of
the fivefold ministry that are given to us to improve us. It also teaches
us that God has placed many ministry gifts within the body of Christ for our
benefit. We have everything that
we need within the body of Christ to aid us. We only need to become
proactive and seek out as well as pray for guidance to locate the individuals
who will be able to provide us with the specific help that we need.
Action is required in order to overcome the spirit of fear.
Its grip can be broken but we have to be proactive. Pro means (for) and Active means (action,
doing something). The word
only works through application. Satan will recycle events and
negative ideas in order to keep us stagnant and immobile. As long as he
can cloud our judgment, he can keep us from recognizing the authority that has
been given to us by God. The only thing that he needs to do is keep us
distracted. He doesn’t have to overpower us; he only needs to make us
believe that he can and that he has.
Many people live with
fear daily. But understanding the truth means that they can escape
their fears by accepting Christ. This
is why 2 Timothy 1:7 (For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind) is such an essential scripture in
bringing deliverance to them. The love of Christ will nullify and
eradicate any amount of fear that we can experience. Complete trust in
God and in His word will bring us to the place where we will be free of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears
has not been made perfect in love.
