Victory Over Fear

Victory Over Fear

By Apostle Felix

6  Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

2 Timothy 1: 6 – 9

Fear is an enemy, and it has to be treated as such. It is not a companion one should welcome and tolerate. The Bible tells us that fear torments; therefore, it is a tormentor. Interestingly, some have resorted to living with fear that torments. Fear has killed more people than the deadly diseases we know of. Many people die not because of the disease but because of fear of death. Throughout the pages of the Bible, the Lord has been speaking to man not to be afraid. The first symptom of man’s fall was fear. Before the fall, man had no fear in his life, but man became fearful after the fall. The Lord asked Adam an interesting question: “Who told you?”

9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11  And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 

Genesis 3: 9 – 11

Fear is a product of a fear-based conversation. You cannot converse with an enemy and maintain your faith in God. So often, we converse with the wrong people and become doubtful of God’s word. Eve had a conversation with the wrong guy that influenced her mind in the wrong direction. Even today, we still feel the impact of that conversation. Every way you turn, the consequences of the Eden conversation are vividly visible. Jesus came to change that narrative as the Living Word of God. He kept rebuking His disciples over their fearfulness.

40  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Mark 4: 40, 41

The disciples heard Jesus say to them to go to the other side. It looks like they forgot what Jesus had said initially to them. The journey was to go to the other side and not perish on the sea. But the disciples ended up believing the storm and the wind rather than Jesus’ Word. The disciples’ greatest enemy was not necessarily the wind, but their lack of confidence in Jesus’ Word. Fear exposes whom we believe in most. While the sea raged, Jesus was sleeping in the boat. He had total control over the weather and the circumstances of life. He was not afraid at all. Fear paralyses one’s ability to fulfil God’s calling effectively. Just imagine if Jesus were afraid as well. That would have been the end of the redemptive journey, and we would not be here talking about Jesus as our Saviour. Fear is a killer of dreams and visions. What is standing between you and your dream is not the lack of resources but fear. It is the fear of ‘suppose it does not work.’ Suppose it works! Do not surrender your dreams to fear. Rise in power and declare victory over it as Jesus did. He rose from His sleeping mat and declared victory over it. Do not allow fear to drown your dreams.