A serpent slithered to Eve, eyeing her with intent to kill.

Did she run? Squeak out, “Help me, Adam”? Nope! She and the serpent chatted up storm that crashed into her world. . .and yours. Fear debuted. It has had center stage ever since.

Fear. It’s a quirky emotion. It has its protective side. A pitbull charges and you wisely hurdle a fence like a world‐class Olympian. Fear also has its scary sides. It may stalk you, steal your peace, and imprison you. This is bad fear, sinful fear.

How do you respond to bad fear? Hide in your work or shop until you drop another grand? Shut down, blow up, or freak out?

A Healthy Fear

Do you know that God commands us to fear? “Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name” (Deuteronomy 6:13, NIV).

Page after page of Scripture echoes this command to fear — but why? In this context, fear means to revere, to have awe. God wants us to put him first, recognizing that he alone is worthy of worship. When we choose to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we develop a healthy fear of God. He gets bigger in our minds, our fears shrink.

Not so with bad fear.

At the core of bad fear is shame. Shame whispers lies: “You’re inherently worthless and defective. You’re junk.”

Believers have heard shame speak, too. And some of us grew up in homes where we were told through word or action that we “should never have been born.” Shame makes us want to hide, to cover up, to strategically place fig leaves over depression, laziness and apathy, the idols of self‐worship and pleasure‐seeking, envy, hatred and unforgiveness, and sexual sins such as lust, sleeping around, adultery, and homosexuality.

Turning Fear to Faith: 3 Steps

Troubled by sinful fear? Here’s an effective plan:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the answer to this question: What am I hiding? Chances are, he’ll pinpoint areas of pain generated from fear. Example: You feel hurt that your loved one forgot to call you, and you fear rejection even though God says he’ll never leave you.

2. Do a U-Turn. Repent (or a 180-degree turn) of your sins including ungodly fear. Ask God for help. He will help you.

3. Replace fear with faithful choices. Let’s say that you are afraid to confront a co-worker who is misrepresenting you to your supervisor OR  the woman who is gossipping about you at church. Choose to follow God’s instructions in the Bible, and go to her and speak to her privately, lovingly and truthfully.

I grant you, this is easier said than done.

OR let’s say you’re terribly afraid of driving and don’t visit friends even though you really, really want to. What should you do?

The short answer: Believe God is in control and he’ll protect you. . .even from debilitating fear.

The long answer: Pause, step back and discern why you have this fear then ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind to you think well.

Again, easier said than done.

I know, I’ve been there.

If you’d like a biblical counselor to help you replace your fear with faith, please contact me. If you want only complimentary “Think Well” charts write “Think Well.” I want to help you be all who God made you to be.

Many years ago the Hubs and I bought our first house. We were just 24 and happy. . .even though the place needed a major overhaul.

Carpenter ants had feasted on the back porch. The roof leaked. The fascia was holey, which explains why a family of raccoons had made a home in our home.

She had to go.

I just wasn’t going to share my home with another female.

Once we kicked out the raccoon all was good.

For a little while. Then on my walks to and from the train station I began noticing other homes: brick homes, big homes, homes with impeccable landscaping.

It bugged me that my precious little Cape Cod didn’t measure up.

Into the comparison trap I fell and broke my neck.

Err.

At the core of my comparison trap: fear.

You remember the story of Eve and the forbidden fruit. Satan in the form of a serpent – a very chatty serpent – put doubt in Eve’s mind and she believed that God was withholding something good from her and the Hubs. So she chomped.

Bad decision.

The good news is you can replace your fear with faith, your comparisons with confidence.

How? Continually believe God.

THIS IS NOT EASY.

Satan will tempt you to entertain fearful thoughts and to compare.

Remember whose you are: HIS.

What is your comparison trap? Please leave a comment.

You Are Loved, Lucy

Please visit my website. You’ll find practical helps, complimentary downloads and encouragement. If you’re interested in e-counseling, send an e-mail to Lucy@LucyAnnMoll.com.