What Are You Afraid Of?

Everyone is afraid of something.

Take a moment before you keep reading.

Really think about it.

What are you afraid of?

Rejection?

Loneliness?

Running out of money?

Being a bad parent?

Starting over?

Loving someone?

Not being loved?

Moving on?

Letting someone go?

Tomorrow?

Tonight?

Going to bed?

Waking up?

Dying?

Reaching out to someone?

Not reaching out?

Saying something?

Saying nothing at all?

Embarrassing yourself?

Trying something new?

Being too scared to try something new?

Being fearless?

Not being brave enough?

The list could go on for pages.

Some fears are loud.

Some quietly follow us everywhere we go.

Some only show up at two o’clock in the morning when the house is silent and our thoughts become louder than God’s voice.

Some aren’t even obvious. They disguise themselves as control, perfectionism, procrastination, people-pleasing, overthinking, or staying in situations we know God has called us to leave.

Fear wears a lot of masks.

The interesting thing is that Scripture never pretends fear doesn’t exist.

It simply refuses to let fear be in charge.

Over and over again God tells His people the same thing:

“Fear not.”

Not because life will always be easy.

Not because bad things never happen.

Not because we won’t experience heartbreak, loss, uncertainty, or disappointment.

But because He will be with us through all of it.

Isaiah 41:10 says,

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” — Isaiah 41:10

Notice what God doesn’t say.

He doesn’t say, “Fear not because nothing difficult is coming.”

He says, “Fear not because I am with you.”

That’s a completely different promise.

I used to think courage meant not feeling afraid.

Now I think courage is choosing obedience while fear is sitting in the passenger seat.

Because fear will often come knocking.

The question is whether we hand it the steering wheel.

Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 1:7,

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” — 2 Timothy 1:7

Fear isn’t the voice leading us toward God’s best.

Fear tells us to stay where it’s comfortable.

Faith tells us to step where God is leading.

Fear says, “What if it all falls apart?”

Faith says, “What if God carries me through it?”

Fear imagines every possible worst-case scenario.

Faith remembers every time God has already been faithful.

That doesn’t mean we’ll never feel anxious.

It doesn’t mean we’ll never lose sleep.

It doesn’t mean we’ll never wrestle with uncertainty.

It means we have a choice every single day about which voice we’ll believe.

One whispers, “You’re on your own.”

The other says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

One says, “You aren’t enough.”

The other says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

One says, “You can’t do this.”

The other says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

So today, I want to leave you with one simple question.

What are you afraid of?

Not so you can dwell on it.

Not so you can feel guilty.

Not so you can pretend it doesn’t exist.

But so you can finally hand it to the One who has been asking you all along to let Him carry it.

Maybe your fear won’t disappear overnight.

Maybe tomorrow you’ll have to surrender it all over again.

That’s okay.

Faith has never been about pretending fear doesn’t exist.

It’s about deciding that even when it does…

God’s voice gets the final say.

Reflection

What fear has quietly been making decisions for you lately?

What would your next step look like if you truly believed God was already waiting for you there?

Because we are all afraid of something.

But as followers of Christ…

We are not called to live afraid.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.” — Psalm 56:3

— Naureen