Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Philippians 4:6 (NLT) Fear is not always an overwhelming feeling of terror. Fear also expresses itself as anxiety or constant, low-grade worry. As a paramedic working in the hospital years ago, I remember seeing a mother bring her daughter to see the doctor weekly—sometimes daily! This woman lived in constant anxiety over the possibility that something was wrong with her child. Unfortunately, over time I noticed the young girl develop her mom’s same fearful attitude. So many people grow up in anxious families or with a worry-filled parent. They don’t know what it is like to experience God’s peace, but this doesn’t need to be the case. Fear doesn’t come from God (2 Timothy 1:7). We serve …

Do not be afraid of sudden terror, nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes; for the Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught. Proverbs 3:25 (NKJV) What are you allowing fear to rob from you? I was trying to help an intensely fearful person deal with their anxiety the other day. The problem was they refused to admit they were scared. Their denial stopped me from being able to walk them through some ways to deal with their anxiety. After all, how can you deal with something you don’t admit you have? Mark 11:23 teaches us to speak to mountains, and they’ll obey us. It doesn’t say, “Ignore the mountain and pretend it’s not there,” Because denial …

For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. Job 3:25 (NKJV) Fear never produces goodness in our lives. One time, I remember listening to the audio of a pilot going down in a plane. Even as the aircraft continued to fall, the pilot maintained a business-like tone in his radio communications: “The plane is uncontrollable. We’re not able to save it. We’re at ten thousand feet and descending with no working controls.” And then, in the same controlled manner, he asked if someone would tell his wife and family that he loved them. Even while facing imminent death, that pilot had learned in advance that letting fear take over helped nothing. Job discovered this truth …

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. Psalm 56:3 (NLT) How many times have you heard an exasperated parent or adult use this line? “Just do as I say!” The problem is that children don’t do what we say; they do what we do! We often forget that our kids and others around us are watching how we react to bad news, or how we respond when we’re fearful. Do you react to fear by getting anxious? Do you get stressed and start barking orders at everyone? I was recently chatting with the youth pastors at our church. They were telling me how many teenagers today are heavily governed by fear. The kids talk frequently about how stressed they feel. In fact, …

I will teach all your children, and they will enjoy great peace. Isaiah 54:13 (NLT) Fear is a terrible teacher, yet some adults navigate parenthood using fear-based methods. They make comments like, “Always wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident!” or, “Don’t climb that tree! You can fall and break your neck!” Unfortunately, these bits of well-intentioned advice are rooted in fear. I remember my grandma, whom I loved dearly, babysitting me as a little kid. Back in those days, she would dump her slop pail in the ditch. In the wintertime, that dirty water created a black hole in the snow that disappeared down into a culvert. To keep me from wandering off, she repeatedly told me that there was a …