Fear says: “I am not loved by God, God does not love me, something bad is going to happen to me.” When I’m afraid, I am actually saying I don’t trust God. The nature of God is to love me.

1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”

My head can’t comprehend what my heart can experience. When you and I get afraid, it’s because we’re lacking in our experience of the love of God. It’s not for a lack of knowledge, but a lack of experiential understanding.

Fear is a symptom that something else is wrong. Somehow I’ve lost connection with the fact that God owns everything, He’s my Daddy, and He has control of the whole world. When I call on Him, He answers and He cares about what happens to me. 

There’s no temptation that isn’t common to man (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). It’s comforting to know there’s nothing you’ll go through that someone else hasn’t gone through before.

Nehemiah is a beautiful story about the rebuilding of Jerusalem and gives us keys to getting past fear. It is a real story about actual walls and gates, but is also a metaphor for how to rebuild our lives. Isaiah 60:18 says, “. . .But you will call your walls salvation, and your gates praise.” The Holy Spirit wants to build the walls of salvations and the gates of praise in your life.

Oftentimes, we encounter the greatest fear in our lives when we try to move forward in building our lives with healthy boundaries. The enemy wants to resist our forward progress, so he comes at us with fear. The dogs of doom stand at the doors of destiny. Rebuilding our walls to keep out bad things and having gates to let in healthy things is key for us to be able to do what God has called us to do. 

When we feel powerless, we get afraid. We feel vulnerable and incapable, which leads to fear. It leads to questioning our relationship with God and we wonder if we’re capable for the task. The same things the Jews in Nehemiah were facing are the same schemes we face today.

Just like Nehemiah surveyed the walls to see where they were weak, we need accountability in our life to build up the areas where we are weak. We need people who are strong to lend us their strength. We know we have the right accountability if we’re a bit nervous to tell them we’ve failed. We need people in our lives who say they’re disappointed, help us repent, and make sure shame is broken off and call us up to who God made us to be. Living in community keeps us out of fear.

1. We realize that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but love, power, and a sound mind. Fear can be a spirit.
2. We have to stay in the love of God, because the love of God drives away fear from our lives. 
3. We need to station people at the weak areas in our lives, stay in community, and when the devil is raging, it’s probably because we’re doing something awesome.
4. We have to remember the testimonies of what God has done before, for ourselves or others. When we get afraid, we need to remember what God has done before and know He’ll do it again (see Psalm 78:9-11 and Revelation 19:10).
5. We can’t be fragile or let fear scare us out of someone's life. We can’t flee from our problems.
6. We can’t let fear tell us what to do. We can’t reduce our lives to the level of our fear. 

Isaiah 54:14, “In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you.”

Fear has friends! When we open the door to fear, oppression is near. Sometimes we can’t stop being afraid, but we can start loving God. We start with recalling the actions of what God did and thanking Him, but then this moves us to a place of praise and Presence. One of the best ways to get out of the presence of the devil is to get into the Presence of God.

1. Get out a journal and write down every good thing you can think of that God has done in your life. Push past not being able to think of anything at first, there is always something! 
2. Start giving thanks for those things. It can be as simple as someone helping you with a flat tire. If every time the enemy bothers you, you worship and thank God for what He’s done, the devil leaves with bruises.

Scripture:

1 John 4:1, 1 John 4:18, 2 Timothy 1:7, Nehemiah 4, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Isaiah 60:18, Psalm 78:9-11, Revelation 19:10, Romans 12:2, Nehemiah 6, Luke 18:1-8, Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Isaiah 54:14, Joshua 1:1-9