“Be afraid, be very afraid!” is a quotation usually attributed to the 1986 horror film The Fly, written by the Canadian David Cronenberg, and starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis.
Hollywood and many book authors like to make us afraid. It is all supposed to be in fun. But the enemy of our soul is not aiming for fun when he sends fear our way.
His fear is designed to make us unstable, unreliable, and uncertain about everything. It is designed to hold our thoughts captive. It is designed to make us forget God’s promises and replace them with doubt and worry and anxiety. His fear seeks to immobilize us, and its goal is to steal and destroy our spiritual growth and kill our spiritual life.
Paul tells us that the fear the enemy sends our way is more than emotion. It is a spirit. “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” [2 Timothy 1:7 HCSB]
One of the primary ways to overcome the “spirit of fear” sent by the enemy is to replace it with the “Fear of the LORD.”
While that sounds strange—to replace fear with Fear—it is effective and true. The key to overcoming fear is total and complete trust in God. It is faith and trust that come from knowing Him and knowing that He is Good. The “Fear of the LORD” is a reverential awe of God and a respect for His power and glory, as well as His wrath and anger. It grows in us as we grow in knowing Him.
It is a total acknowledgement of all that God is and all that He does – and CAN do! It is bowing down to Him in respect and reverence knowing that He is all-powerful and nothing man (or the devil) can do to us can overpower our God.
Psalm 56:11: “In God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me”
Isaiah 41:10: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.”
