Fearing Fear Itself

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

The Great Depression began in October 1929, and began to turn around with the inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt as president in 1933. In his inaugural address, FDR lifted the spirit of America with these words: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

God says, “Fear not” (Isaiah 41:10)—don’t fear anything. The Christian has no fear that faith cannot cancel (Luke 8:25). Fear paralyzes. It stops us in our tracks and halts the advance of the kingdom of God into the kingdom of Satan, the kingdom of light into the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:12–14).

Satan wants nothing more than to paralyze God’s saints—to halt their progress in holiness and to stop the spread of the gospel. If you are paralyzed by fear, ask God to deliver you. Say, “Lord, I’m afraid! Deliver me from evil. Deliver me from all my fears.”

Power, love, and the mind of Christ advance the kingdom of God; fear turns advance into retreat.