5 Verses to Help Conquer Fear

As far back as I could remember, I’ve struggled with fear. From the boogie man in the dark to my soul going to hell, there was always something to be afraid of. I was only four or five years old when I realized death existed, and that I was not going to live forever. I attribute it to the funerals I attended at a much too early age…the “sleeping” bodies, crying adults, long processions to the gravesites, and the sad, very sad funeral music.

At first, I was depressed and hated the day I was conceived because I felt like I was born to die; then I became scared. Downright terrified that anything and everything could possibly hurt me and worst yet, kill me.

Strange, right? Being so young yet perceiving the end of all things? Many years later, I still haven’t quite gotten over it. Fear became a constant blanket even when awesome things happened to me. I believe psychiatrists now has a diagnosis for that…anxiety. And as life threw curve balls at me, my fear kept morphing into all kinds of ridiculous scenarios in the moment.

One may think that by age forty-one, I would be a walking bundle of prescription popping mess. Truthfully, I might have been if it wasn’t for the Word of God…yes, the Bible. The instant I acknowledged God’s grace in my life and surrendered myself to Jesus Christ, I cleaved to the Scriptures like a man clings to driftwood in the midst of a storm at sea. The Scriptures became my anchor through bouts of mental and emotional unrest. Whenever I felt at my breaking point, I recited these verses:

1. Psalms 23:4, “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…”
   
2. Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to give prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’
3. Isaiah 40: 31, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
4. Romans 8:15, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to son-ship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’
5. 1 John 4:18-19, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.”

Although fear is a part of the human experience, I’ve learn that God’s Word is greater than that experience. So whenever feelings of dread arise go to these Scriptures, speak them and know that everything will be alright.