Fear is often a much more powerful feeling and emotion than we realize. When we allow it to have power over us, it can make us do some crazy things for the sake of trying to avoid whatever it is that we fear as human beings. It also can have such a hold on us that we slip into things like anxiety, depression, and even suicidal ideation. It is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
This is why the Bible emphasizes the fear of the Lord in such an impactful way in so many Bible verses. The interesting thing about fear is that it exists in a hierarchy. We are all more afraid of some things than we are of others. For example, I am deathly afraid of spiders! I am less afraid of other bugs.
Yet what God’s Word tells us is that we should fear God above all else. Our fear of God should be greater than our fear of man. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we should cower in fear of God, but rather that we should have a fearful reverence for who He is and what He can do.
It is a recognition of His power over everything else that we fear that can bring true peace to our own personal fears and keep us from living with a spirit of fear.
To encourage you, here are a few stories of fear from the Bible to show you how God can overcome all of your fears and lead you into a courageous, fearless life with Him.
6 Bible Stories About Overcoming Fear
1. Elisha’s Servant conquering fear of failure
One of my all-time favorite stories about overcoming fear in the Bible is found in 2 Kings 6. This story takes place during a war between the king of Syria and Israel and, during this war, the king finds out about Elisha, a prophet of the Lord that was giving Israel an upper hand against Syria.
To erase this upper hand against him, the king of Syria finds out where Elisha is staying and sends an army there to take care of him, so to speak. Elisha’s servant rises in the morning, sees this great army outside, and, understandably, is overcome with great fear. What are they meant to do against such a great army?
Yet Elisha turns to the servant and simply says:
“Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” [2 Kings 6:16, ESV]
Then, Elisha prays for the servant’s eyes to be opened by the Lord, and the servant suddenly is able to see that the mountains are full of chariots and horses of fire sent by the Lord to protect them.
Even in seemingly hopeless situations, we should always remember that we have no idea what God is doing behind what we are able to see. According to God’s truth, he is always working and we know that, in God’s perfect will, he works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Let this story encourage you and remind you of his goodness in difficult times of fear in your own life.
2. Moses conquering the fear of insecurity
I love the way that the Word of God highlights its heroes as being flawed, insecure, and fearful. It helps us to understand that every human struggles with such things and none of them stand in the way of God using us for his kingdom.
Take, for example, Moses, the man whom God used to lead Israel out of Egypt. When God called Moses from the burning bush, Moses did not heroically answer with a resounding, “Yes, I will go to Egypt!” Instead, Moses was afraid and insecure, just like we often are.
God tells Moses his plan and that he wants him to go to Pharaoh on his behalf and demand the release of God’s people, but Moses is afraid and tells God that he should find someone else because he is bad at speaking. In fact, Moses argues back and forth with God multiple times to the point that God gets angry for the first recorded time in the Bible.
Why did God become angry? God became angry because Moses was allowing his fears and insecurities to get in the way of the great plan that God had for him. He wanted to use Moses for an amazing thing, but because of his fear, he wasn’t allowing God to use him.
Can you relate to this? Do you let your fear get in the way of allowing God to use you for his kingdom? Allow Moses to encourage you; God can use flawed, insecure, and afraid individuals to accomplish great things. It’s time to let go of your fear and allow God to work. He is a good God and he does good things, even through flawed individuals who struggle to answer God’s call on their own lives.
3. Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego
The story that is in Daniel 3 is another of my favorite stories in the Bible about fear and overcoming it. This story is set in the kingdom of King Nebuchadnezzar who decided to create an image of gold that everyone would worship. He decreed that at the sound of instruments, everyone in his kingdom should fall down and worship this image, and, if they don’t, they would be cast into a burning fiery furnace.
However, within his kingdom were three Jews who had been appointed over the affairs of Babylon. Their names were Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego. These three men were refusing to serve King Nebuchadnezzar’s gods and refused to worship this golden image that he had set up.
So, they are brought before the king and given the chance to redeem themselves by bowing down to worship the image in the king’s presence. Instead, they stand their ground and say to the king that even if he throws them into the fire, their God is able to save them from it and they will not worship his idol.
But, they add, even if their God does not save them from the fire, they will still not worship his idol.
Angered by this refusal, the king throws them into the furnace, condemning them to death, but they are not harmed. In fact, they walk out of the furnace without even the smell of smoke on their clothes.
Even in the face of a fearful death, these three men trust God and fear God over King Nebuchadnezzar, and come out on top. Should we not do the same? Trust God and the promises of God over your feelings of fear. He will come through for you at the right time.
4. Gideon’s Victory over Fear & Doubt
Another story about overcoming fear from the Bible comes from chapter 6 of the book of Judges. Gideon, a chosen man of God, is called by God’s command to save the people of Israel by leading them against the Midianites. Funny enough, he is called to do this by an angel while he is busy hiding from the Midianites.
However, the angel addresses him as a mighty man of courage and encourages Gideon that God will accomplish this great thing through him.
As the story progresses, we see clearly that Gideon is extremely afraid of the Midianites and tests God time after time to see whether God will truly do this thing through him or not and protect him through the process. However, God passes his tests every time, showing himself to be faithful even when we are faithless.
Eventually, Gideon responds in obedience, and, against all odds, he takes down the Midianites with God’s help and fulfills God’s plan, despite his fear.
Even when things seem impossible to you, let this story of Gideon convince you that all things are possible for God. With God at your side, there is no need to fear or be afraid. He will do what he has set out to do.
5. The Israelites and the Promised Land
If you know anything about the Israelites and their story through the Old Testament, you know that one of the major things that happened is that God promised to take them to a land flowing with milk and honey. God has given this land to the children of Israel so that they can prosper as his people and be a blessing to the surrounding nations; a testament to the goodness of God.
When they finally get to the promised land, they send in 12 spies to scope out the land. This story can be found in Numbers 13. The 12 spies go into Canaan to see what the land is like and to investigate who is living in the land at the time.
However, when the spies return, they don’t bring good news. They were fearful, saying that the people who were living in the land were like giants and that they wouldn’t be able to overcome them and take the land for themselves. These spies spread fear and terrible things among the people of Israel and caused them to delay their receiving of the promised land because they feared these people more than they feared God and what he could do for them.
Only one spy, Caleb, knew that, with God, they could enter the land and take it as God had promised. Yet, because of fear, they did not enter the land at that time and instead ended up wandering for many years due to their disobedience and fear of death.
This goes to show that we can trust in God’s promises and that we shouldn’t cause our fear to keep us from what our heavenly father has planned for us. He has good plans and we can walk confidently knowing that he is with us against our earthly fear. Simply trust in God’s love and your fear of earthly troubles will begin to melt away.
6. Peter Conquering Fear of Death
In the New Testament, we also find stories of people fearing death and allowing their fear to get in the way of what God has called them to do. Take, for instance, Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples.
Before Jesus was arrested, Jesus Christ told Peter that before the rooster crows that day, Peter would deny him three times. This seemed impossible to Peter. How could he let Jesus down like that? Yet his fear overtook him when the time came.
When Jesus was arrested and brought before the high priests for questioning, Peter followed him as a faithful disciple. However, while he was there, he was seen and identified as one of Jesus’ disciples. Yet we are told that Peter denies being one of Jesus’ disciples and even, at one point, says that he doesn’t even know Jesus.
Of course, as Jesus told him, Peter denies Jesus three times before the rooster crows. He was afraid that if the people knew he was with Jesus, they would arrest and crucify him as well. Ultimately, he was more afraid of death and persecution than God and what Jesus had called him to do.
This story can definitely resonate with all of us as fear of persecution and rejection for the sake of Christ Jesus is something that every Christian experiences. Although most of us are not in scenarios where we will lose our lives, many of us are in scenarios where we can lose friends, opportunities, or even family members if we stand up for our faith in Jesus.
Yet, even in the face of that fear, we can trust in God’s power and faithfulness that whatever happens will be for our good. We don’t have to be overcome with fear as Peter was. Trust in God through the Holy Spirit, even in the face of death, and the peace of God will help you, even through the valley of the shadow of death.