WHAT IS FEAR? AND WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc.,

whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
What does the Bible say? ... “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of
God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
We are living in times where fear is like coffee, it’s the first thing we drink in the morning. Ex:
Covid 19, Finances, etc., all this fed by the news and by the media. I am not saying that we don’t
have a problem but rather that we have a God that is greater than our problems. And this problem
has come about to let us exercise the measure of faith that God has given us.
Mathew 14: 22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him
to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a
mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was
already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was
against it.
25 
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw
him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 
But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he
saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why
did you doubt?”
32 
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat
worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
When I read these verses, I can’t help but to think that Jesus knew what would happen to
his disciples as they got into the boat. Verse 22 tells us that he made them get into the boat
and after that he went to the mountain to pray. Perhaps he was praying for his disciples to
have the right attitudes in the midst of a storm. The bible tells us that he was there alone
and that the boat was a considerable distance from land, slammed by the waves because
the wind was against it. I want you to know that there are times when you can be doing the
will of God and go through a storm simply because God himself just like Jesus, gets you to
get into that boat, knowing that there will be storms in life for the sake of promoting us into
looking like Jesus… and only then we will be able to overcome the difficulties.
In the same manner we are living in times where fear is all over us. There is uncertainty of
a virus that has no cure at the moment and neither do we know how to counteract it
through natural means.
And the thing is, that these problems cannot be fixed or taken care of in the natural…just
like we see in verse 25 where Jesus goes out to them walking on water, defying gravity
which is a natural occurrence, and replacing it with a supernatural action and how do they
react? Verse 26 tells us that they were terrified when they saw this. They called Jesus a
ghost and cried out in fear. But Jesus tells them in verse 27: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be
afraid.” In other words, he was telling them not to be afraid, that He was with them.
28 
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”29 “Come,” he
said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward
Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord,
save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little
faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Here we see a good example of doubt. “Lord if its you? Peter what do you mean? Jesus
just told you in verse 27 “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid?
The next thing is that when he saw the wind, he was afraid. If we keep our eyes on Jesus
the wind or the problem will not be a deciding factor. And what happened when he became
afraid? Simple: he began to sink. Not trusting in God can lead many to failure and as the
bible just showed us…he began to sink. Jesus in return reaches out his hand, saves him
but simply asks him a question. “Why did you doubt”?
Living under constant fear has serious health consequences.
Physical health. Fear weakens our immune system and can cause cardiovascular damage,
gastrointestinal problems such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome, and decreased fertility. It
can lead to accelerated ageing and even premature death.
Memory. Fear can impair formation of long-term memories and cause damage to certain parts of
the brain, such as the hippocampus. This can make it even more difficult to regulate fear and can
leave a person anxious most of the time. To someone in chronic fear, the world looks scary and
their memories confirm that.
Brain processing and reactivity. Fear can interrupt processes in our brains that allow us to
regulate emotions, read non-verbal cues and other information presented to us, reflect before
acting, and act ethically. This impacts our thinking and decision-making in negative ways,
leaving us susceptible to intense emotions and impulsive reactions. All these effects can leave us
unable to act appropriately.
What is the main cause of fear?
The universal trigger for fear is the threat of harm, real or imagined. This threat can be for our
physical, emotional or psychological well-being. While there are certain things that
trigger fear in most of us, we can learn to become afraid of nearly anything.
JOB 3:25 
For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is
come unto me.26  I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.