hatchcreek.com Bible blog

Pretty Bird!

In my last post in this series we talked about the fact that we can change bad habits.  When we become a Christian we are literally changed as the Bible says we are  new creations in Christ.

But, we still seem to have a backpack full of old habits that we carry around.  We saw from the Bible that we have to “put-off” off bad habits and “put-on” new acceptable ones.  Hopefully you made a list of the things you need to “put-off” and what you need to replace them with, and are working on them.

I’ve been reading a wonderful book by Wayne and Joshua Mack called, The Fear Factor, What Satan Doesn’t Want You to Know.  Now that I’ve finished it I can highly recommend it to you.  It isn’t about panic attacks specifically, but is about how fear can cripple anyone even if they don’t have panic disorder. So, even when we are overcomers of panic attacks we need to know how fear can still control us.  This book is loaded with good mental health and is truly biblical.

If you are interested in purchasing it you can go here:  www.mackministeries.org

2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Our bad fear habits do not come from God.  I used to think that Satan causes them, but I am now of the opinion that even though Satan likes us to be fearful, he doesn’t keep us that way. We cannot blame him.  If you think about it, there is only one devil and he cannot be everywhere at once like God can, and he doesn’t know everything like God does, and he is not all powerful like God is. I believe he has bigger fish to fry than us, like the leaders of enemy nations, for example.  So, what causes us to continue to fear in an unhealthy way?  I believe it is those old fear habits that we have carried over in our way of thinking.

Today, I’d like to talk a bit about the different types of fears we encounter.  We made a list of them awhile back.

When I had panic attacks I had many fears.  In fact, in my book, Panic Buster, I had a list of 28 different fears. Those were the ones I could think of at the time, there were most likely more.

I want to try to put some of those fears and some of the ones you gave me in categories so that we can see more clearly what is behind our fears.

Fear of the future, fear of death, and fear of man are some of the main categories of fear.  I looked over our lists and come up with the following: 

Fear of the future:

Isaiah 41:10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

So many of our fears can come under the heading of “fear of the future.”  If you think about it any fear that has to do with the future even if it is a few hours away can come under that heading.  For instance: fear of going to the store, fear of leaving the house, fear of the weather, fear of losing control, fear of going crazy, the next panic attack. dying and leaving children without a mother (this is also fear of death), stroke, heart attack, blood clots, (health problems),  feeling disconnected from yourself,  fear of the unknown, fear of aging. Any time we put off doing something because we are fearful it could be the fear of the future.

Why should we be anxious and fearful of things in the future when we have God on our side?  We don’t realize that He is big enough to handle all of our anxiety. 

1 Peter 5:7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Psalms 32:7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Psalms 143:9 Deliver me, O LORD, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.

Why are we afraid of the future?  We shouldn’t be.  After all we are in God’s hands.  This is sinful fear.  And, we must repent of it and then go on with God.

Fear of death:

Hebrews 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Many of our fears also come under the heading of fear of death.  Some are: passing out, driving, bees, crossing the street, someone in the house, the dark, losing control, bathtub water, gas fumes, tornados and blizzards, flying. 

The “bathtub water,” one was one of mine.   You might ask why that?  Well, to me it felt like I might go under the water and drown.  It was especially fearful if I was alone.  I know that was in irrational fear.  So many of them were.  Also, if a bee came around I took off in my own flight.  I was so afraid that it would sting me and I would die.  But, I’m not even allergic to them.  

It seems strange now that I could have been so afraid of such things.  I thank God that he has erased most of this from my memory.  I don’t think about all this usually, only when I’m trying to write.   Crossing the street was another big one for me.  I had to cross to get the mail.  I’d wait and wait then suddenly dash across when I thought the way was clear.  I lived in the country so there wasn’t really much traffic.

That was another irrational fear.   

Fear of man:

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.

Wayne Mack says, “The fear of man is a broad biblical category for many specific sins.”

Dr. Ed Welch says speaking of fear of man, “it includes being afraid of someone, but it extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshiping other people, putting your trust in people.”

We might not recognize this fear as much, but it is there.  Fear of people, crowds, witnessing for Christ, doctors, dentists, talking to people, being honest, telling about our fears.  I remember hiding my fears from my family and doctor.  I did not know what they would think of me.  I also became very dependent on other people instead of God.   I had the fear of man.  That was behind my fears in this area.  Do you sometimes not do something or say something because you are afraid of what others would think of you?  We’ve all done it.  If this is one of your habits you need to work on replacing it with good ones. 

Fear of God:

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Someone  said “fear of God, seeing and hearing Him.”  Guess what?  That is a good fear.

There are both holy fears and sinful fears.  We have to distinguish between the two.

Blessings,
Bonnie