When You Want to Let Fear Call the Shots

Over the past several months, I have often found myself needing to pray this prayer: “Lord, please help me today to live my life by faith and not by fear.” I need to pray this prayer because I am tempted to let fear call the shots more often than I care to admit. Have you ever stopped to consider how common it is for you to make choices because you’re afraid? Perhaps you speed to work because you’re fearful of what your boss will do if you’re late. Maybe you avoid certain people because you’re scared that they won’t approve of your decisions. Or it could be that you check your bank account obsessively because you’re afraid of financial insecurity.

If you begin to pay attention to your heart, it is likely that you will discover more decisions motivated by fear than you realize. But, as Christians, we’re called to live by faith (Galatians 2:20), not self-focused fear (2 Timothy 1:7). So, what is to be done if we see fear driving our decisions when it should be faith in our Lord Jesus Christ? A good place to start is to ask yourself a series of questions.

Do I Believe God Will Keep Me Safe?

Consider Proverbs 29:25—“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.” When we fear man, we make decisions that we believe will protect us from the harm we think man will inflict. But this text clearly tells us that fearing man puts us in a place of danger, not a place of protection. The place of protection is found in trusting God. Do you believe God when He tells you what the real threat is? Do you believe God when He tells you where real safety is found? Surely, trusting God does not mean that life will be all peaches ‘n’ cream, but it will protect you in the most important ways. When we believe God, our hearts remain safe, even if our bodies and our circumstances are threatened. 

Do I Believe God’s Way Is Right?

This question cuts through our excuse-making when we are fearfully motivated. If God has clearly revealed in His Word that He is pleased by certain words, activities, or attitudes, then there’s nothing we can say that will make a contrary choice justifiable. God’s way is right, no matter how strong the emotion of fear. For instance, God says we are to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:24-25). If fear of hurt feelings or unreciprocated relationship is motivating you to avoid meaningful commitment to a local church, this verse is given for your correction. You need to trust God to protect you and step out in faith, believing that His way is the one right way in this scenario.

Do I Believe God Will Provide What I Need to Overcome My Fear and Obey Him?

We make decisions out of fear when we forget God’s promises. Many of us are quite fearful of personal evangelism, filling our minds with thoughts of what people might think of us or say to us when we share the gospel with them. But, in Matthew 28, in the context of making disciples, Jesus promises, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (v. 20). Jesus doesn’t mean that He is with us as a passive observer of our efforts to make disciples. He means that He is with us in all His sufficient power, so that we will be able to accomplish His mission as we lean on Him.

Do I Believe God Uses What Is Fearful to Show Me His Glory?

When we run from what is fearful, we miss out on beholding God’s awesomeness. In Matthew 14, think of what the disciples got to see against the backdrop of merciless wind and waves as they attempted to sail across the sea of Galilee. Jesus came to them walking on the water, and Peter, empowered by Christ, did the same until he doubted and began to sink. Then, as they both got back into the boat, Jesus brought immediate calm to the water (vv. 22-33). If we are always choosing the safe route, then we never put ourselves in a position to feel our great need for Jesus and then watch Him provide for that need in humbling ways.

Do I Believe Jesus Has Removed That Which Is Most Fearful?

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul tells us, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (v. 26), and then we read in verses 56-57, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” For the Christian, death is but a doorway to glory because Jesus died and rose again. Since Jesus has vanquished the enemy of death, we should expect Him to be powerful enough and gracious enough to help us with all other lesser fears. There is nothing so fearsome that we can’t face it with Jesus.

Because our fears lie to us, we need help being led out of the fog of fear’s deception. When you are tempted to let fear call the shots, these questions can be a quick guide back to the reality of God’s truth. There, we will find what we need to live as Christians. There we will find what we need to live by faith, not by fear.