What to Do With Fear

The presence of fear in your life is not evidence against your faith.

“I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash

Psalm 34 gives us a wonderfully honest picture of faith.

David does not say, “I sought the LORD, and I am fearless!” He says, “I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”

That matters.

Sometimes we can think mature faith means we no longer experience fear. But David was a warrior. He had fought lions and bears. He had faced Goliath. And still, he says, “I had fears.”

The presence of fear in your life is not evidence against your faith. Sometimes faith sounds like a trembling voice calling on the name of the LORD. The question is not whether you will ever feel afraid. The question is where you will take your fear when it comes.

David brought his fears to the LORD. Not just one fear, but all his fears: fear of death, failure, the unknown, being exposed, being abandoned, and fear that this hard thing might have the final word. Fear often speaks with a loud voice. It does not simply say, “This is hard.” It says, “This will be my doom.” Fear imagines a future where God is absent, help is gone, and you are left alone.

But Psalm 34 gives us a better word.

“I sought the LORD, and he answered me.”

God may not remove every frightening thing from your life. Psalm 34 does not promise a danger-free life. In fact, later David says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” But God can deliver us from fear by opening our eyes to something greater than fear: His presence, His mercy, His nearness, His promise, and His care.

You may still be walking through something difficult. But difficulty is not the same as abandonment. Trouble is real, but trouble is not ultimate.

So bring your fear to the LORD. Bring the fear you can explain and the fear you cannot explain, the fear that feels small and the fear that keeps you awake at night.

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him.