Fear Is Not a Fruit of the Holy Spirit
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Josh. 1:9
Fear is an overwhelming anxiety and worry that immobilizes our spirits into believing that our circumstances are bigger than God’s provision. Giving into fear is failing to consider that God is adequate for our needs and can overcome our difficulties. Fearful feelings is not the same thing as the sin of unbelief. One may feel extremely fearful, yet choose to stand on God’s promises, rather than sink into the pit of despair.
It is the most natural thing in the world to be scared, and the clearest evidence that God’s grace is at work in our hearts is when we do not get into panics.
Oswald Chambers, The Shadow of an Agony (London: Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1934), 55.