Blood curdled. Heart-racing. Mouth-dry. You’ve had that moment. I’ve had that moment. A car-accident, a near-death experience, meeting new people, the shopping mall, heights or grandmas cloths tree in the dark in her guest bedroom. We have all experienced fear, healthy and unhealthy.

What do you fear?

What do you do with it?

What has fear driven you to do?

Because more important than the fact that we fear is what we fear, and what we do with it. Fear saves our life one day, yet ruins our relationships the next. It gives us a healthy perspective of a rushing freeway only later fear it drives us to destroy others around us. It will always be a part of us humans but what we fear and what we do with it determines the fact whether the fear will help us find a deeper relationship with God or choke us with its hold.

We fear multiple things that hinder our growth, and to be honest we fear growth itself at times( at least I do) The fact the human race has spent time to register 400 official phobias should blow our minds. For example

1. Arachibutyrophobia (Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth) …
2. Nomophobia (Fear of being without your mobile phone) …
3. Arithmophobia (Fear of numbers) …
4. Plutophobia (Fear of money) …
5. Xanthophobia (Fear of the color yellow) …
6. Genuphobia ( the fear of knees)

And the list goes on for 394 more.

You have two options with fear: either you will overcome it or it will overcome you. I’m no expert but the following are some points that have helped me step through fears in my own life. Through expectations, exposure and explaining.

Expectations

Change your expectations. Expect God to fulfill His promises.

He will deliver us from our fears.( Psalms 34:4-5)

He is with us even in the valley (Psalms 23:4)

He is our source of strength we need not fear the things of this world. (Psalms 27:1)

He is the giver of peace; we don’t need to be troubled (Luke 14:27)

God wills us a life free from fear but one that is full of love and self-control.(2 Timothy 1:7)

Genuine love for God and others overcomes fear.( 1 John 4:18-19)

He never leaves us or forsakes us. ( Deuteronomy 31:6)

No matter where you are God is with you on the journey (Joshua 1:9)

God will uphold you in His hand(Isaiah 41:8-10)

To name a few but the list goes on, because God litterally tells us 365 times in the Bible “Do not fear.” Find 1 or 2 or 17 of Gods truth that directly combats the current unhealthy fear in your life. Write them down, memorize them, save it as the wallpaper on your phone. Do what it takes to get it in your mind. Honestly you may have to get radical, but stop at nothing to change your expectations of God. Believe He’s bigger than your fear.

Exposure

Getting out there, and doing the exact thing that scares you. The longer you avoid things that scare you the bigger they become. Push yourself through the fear armed with “Expectations. As one of my wonderful friends says, “Sometimes you gotta do it scared before you can overcome it” Maybe its so big it feels impossible. It may take baby steps. It may only be in small increments but its still progress.

There’s some nerdy science and research out there on something they call “ exposure therapy” Which basically, works by exposing you to a stimulus that causes fear in a safe environment. As an example, Daniel Yetman in his article on Exposure Therapy on Healthline.com states:

For example, a person with social anxiety may avoid going to crowded areas or parties. During exposure therapy, a therapist would expose the person to these types of social settings to help them become comfortable in them.

Another minor example but I recently took a liking to skateboarding however I was terrified of hills but by starting part way down the hill and slowly riding down from a higher and higher point I was able to mostly conquer my fear. Never mind that at times it was anything but graceful and road rash hurts.

Explain

Lastly, explain it. Scribble it down in your fancy notebook from Target( since I’m not a Target girl I web searched to be sure they where actually a thing), scrap of wrapping paper from Christmas, or find your favorite human in your life and journal it out loud, like a human journal if that suits you better. But basically think through it in some shape or form.

What is it that I’m scared of?

What does God say about this fear?

What am I saying about this fear?

What is the worst thing that could happen if I faced my fear?

What is the best thing that could happen if I overcame this fear?

Explain it to yourself and I promise you it looses at least 35% of its power if not 50.

So change your expectations, expose yourself to the things that scare you, and explain to yourself the truth about your fear. Thats it my friend.

And if your still here and you made it this far through the typos and at times clunky wording, Yeah this article was more me than you. My hands will still shake when I hit publish on this blog post and probably I will still sit in the back at strange churches and avoid the snake section in the zoo but with one step at a time I have determined with God that fear won’t overcome me I will overcome it.