Tame Your Fear

Stressful times surround us. The Covid-19 pandemic brought a new level of trauma to the world. Not only is the Corona pandemic on the rise – fear is mounting and infecting us too. We try to protect our hearts and minds from a load of overwhelming and scary information around us, but it’s difficult. We find ourselves addicted to the excess of bad news. We just can’t turn it off. Yet the truth is, more bad news attacks our faith and incites our fears. Our hearts are troubled and melting like wax before a fire.

We must take authority over our minds, guard our hearts, and tame our fears.

If you’re struggling and feel afraid, think about the following steps you can take to tame your fears.

1. Name Your Fear

Admit and acknowledge your fear. Ask yourself, “What specifically am I afraid of?” Be precise in defining the fear you struggle with. When fear is evaluated and named, it is contained and we discover that the thing we dread has limits.

Once you’ve defined your fear learn to recognize how it operates in your life. Ask yourself:

• What triggers this feeling of fear?
• What happens to me when I feel this?
• Is it connected to a painful or embarrassing former experience?
• Do I know when the fear started?

These, and questions like them, can help you isolate the fear, discouraging it from taking over more of your emotional real estate. When we try to avoid nebulous and uneasy feelings (or the opposite extreme feelings of fear and psychological paralysis), acknowledging exactly what we fear can help to disempower the force of it.

1. Boil it Down

Decide what the worst case scenario looks like. What will happen if you go forward, facing your fear instead of recoiling from it? Then ask yourself if you can live with these consequences. More often than not, the fear we possess of doing something is more frightening than the actual act or event itself. Because fear has a way of growing larger than life and multiplying offspring, it’s helpful to remember this popular acronym:
F.E.A.R. is False Evidence Appearing Real.

2. Define the Win

What would overcoming this fear look like in your life? How would the quality of your life improve if you could overcome these fears? What would you like to accomplish? To conquer fear you have to know what winning looks like. What is your desired destination? What do you want to achieve? Define the win and then evaluate what stands in your way.

Next, break the win down into a series of goals you have to reach. Decide on the manageable steps you can take toward your goal; once accomplished, they’ll bring you to your ultimate goal.

For example, if your fear public speaking, perhaps a goal toward the Win could be to call a few friends together and give a 5-minute talk.

3. Confront Your Fear

Joyce Meyer says, “Do it afraid.” It’s a great encouragement, but does it work?

Yes!

Many of our fears have no logic. Because our fears, phobias, and anxieties are not explainable trying to talk ourselves out them or attempts to reason away our fears will not always work. The way out of some fear is to do the very thing we fear. Take action. Confronting our fear and doing the thing we are afraid of can land a deathblow on the head of fear forever.

4. Get Comfortable

None of us can be totally free from the emotion of fear. It comes to all of us, flying over our heads like a random bird in flight. But we do get to choose if we are going to let fear build a nest in our head and peck away at our brains.

Feelings of fear are a part of the human experience, and sometimes serve a good purpose. So don’t wait to take steps of action until you have NO fear.

Take control now!

Learn to talk yourself through the waves of fear and instruct yourself on how to overcome with small steps, which compounded overtime will result in success. Get comfortable with doing things while the emotion of fear is still present.

I conquered a fear this past month. I have many more to go. But I am persuaded that I will continue to face down fears and take uncomfortable action to overcome them.

But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

 

Hebrews 10:39 -The Message Bible