How to Battle Fear

If we can trust God’s character, fear will fade like darkness in the coming sunrise. 

By: CLINT FISHER, UPPER ELEMENTARY principal

At Perimeter School, we strive to help families develop healthy relationships built on strong foundations. And we know that our children will face many issues as they grow into the mature men and women God has called them to become. As such, we desire to equip families to understand and know how to address these issues and discover the success, joy, and freedom found in Christ.

the pervasiveness of Fear

One of the significant issues that both children and adults face every day may surprise you. It is often the cause of worry, anger, emotional reactivity, and even the drive to be “busy.” What can cause so many different issues to surface - FEAR. Yes, fear is something everyone deals with. It can produce the obvious result of worry and anxiety. Surprisingly, it can also produce anger, busyness, or the desire for distraction.

When we have something that we want to keep or gain, it produces desire and drive. If a child wants ice cream, they gain a desire for ice cream. They begin wanting and thinking about it. They start asking repeatedly for it. If they ever believe they will get it, then they move into protective mode. If anything threatens the chance to get that ice cream, then they react. Here you can see crying, outbursts of anger, fervent cleaning of their room to earn the ice cream, and the list goes on.

Now change that ice cream to friendship, acceptance, admiration, success, popularity, excitement, escape from pressures, and so on. The simple connection is that the more life we believe we will receive from a thing, the more we will pursue it and fight to maintain and keep it.

The problem is that everything in this world is breaking down, fading away, or slowly being consumed. This inevitable threat of loss will produce the fear of losing what we value.

how to battle Fear

How do we battle fear and so reduce worry, anger, and all the other results?

First, we battle smaller fears with greater values. To a child, ice cream may be less important than Disney, so the fear of losing ice cream can fade with the joy of Disney World.

Second, we must find greater values that are not threatened by “the moth and rust of this world” (Matthew 6:19-20). If we put value in and desire something that is promised by God, then it can almost eliminate fear. How? If God has promised it, then God will secure it and deliver it.

Lastly, we must remember that God is both loving and sovereign. If He has promised it, will He not fulfill it? (Num 23:19). “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us, how will he not along with him give us every good thing in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:32).

We need to fight to value what God has promised. To escape fear, we should run to the perfect love of God wrapped in His control over everything and trust that He has good intentions by memorizing His promises to that end.

If we can learn to trust God’s love, control, and character, then fear will fade like darkness in the coming sunrise.