Dealing With the Fear Foxes

UV 1529/10000 Dealing with The Fear-Foxes
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34 v 4
Fears are a mixture of overpowering negative thoughts and emotions that affects everyone all the time. Fears paralayse our minds and weakens us considerably. The phrase “fear not” occurs 365 times in scripture which implies that fears attack us like fierce foxes almost every day of the year. When certain types of fear prey on our minds continually, they become a form of mental disease called phobia, paranoia or neuroses. Two types of fear that affect everyone are the fear of premature death and the fear of falling ill. The firebrand torches that can be used to set fire to the tails of these two foxes is the promise in Psalm 91: “ As you have set your love upon my Name, I will satisfy you with long life and after that show you eternity” and the affirmation of healing in Isaiah 53, “ By your stripes I am healed.”
In order to face the fear-foxes, we need to seek the Lord, His strength and grace in His word. When we confess our faith in the promises of the Lord, the fear-foxes will turn tail and flee from us.
Our faith will act as a shield against all the fear foxes that snap at us. There are other types of fear that afflict us like the fear of the future, the fear of the unknown, the fear of failure and the fear of success. The spirit of fear comes from the enemy of our souls as the Lord has stated in His word that “ I have given you not a spirit of fear but of love, power and self control.” Indeed, this divine prescription of love, power and self control is the antidote to fear. We need to always keep some firebrands of God’s promises lit around us all the time to keep these foxes away. The twin foxes of fear of failure and success can be effectively chased away by affirming our faith constantly in the promise, “ Blessed is the one who meditates on His Word day and night for he succeeds in all that he does.” It does not literally mean that we succeed in all things. Certainly, we might fail in some of the things we attempt but we will not be discouraged or feel defeated. We will learn some valuable lesson the Lord wants to teach us through that failure. Failure like death and disease loses its sting to hurt us. We are not immune to fears but we overcome our every fear with faith. Apart from the generic faith in God as our Father and Jesus as our Redeemer, the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and Counsellor, we have different types of specific faith- longevity faith, productivity faith, success faith, health faith, family faith, future faith, legacy faith, sufficiency faith, financial faith, marriage faith, work or career faith, endurance faith, relationship faith, leadership faith.. Each type of faith is a counter and a foil to every type of fear conceivable.

The uni-verse above promises to deliver us from all our fears. Our faith in the promises of the Lord releases the power and grace of God in our lives such that no fear can take hold of us. The presence of the Lord with us sets us free from all fears. As the psalmist wrote, “ Though I walk through the valley of death, I shall not fear for the Shepherd’s rod and staff, they comfort me.” Whatever threat or danger we face in life, the Lord is ahead of us. He sends His angels to encamp around us. Our sense of security is absolute as it is rooted in our relationship with the omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent God.
Prateep V Philip