A couple of weeks ago, we began our journey to knocking down the fear of the future. If you missed the first half, go here.
How do we fight against fear regarding the future? How do we begin knocking down our fear of the future?
The good news is in Jesus, we can. The Book of Mark tells the story of a time when the disciples were afraid:
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly, the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. Even the wind and waves obey him” (4:38-41).
Whatever fear of the future you are holding onto, Jesus can quiet it with his voice, He can cause it to be still, and he wants to do that in your life today. Last time, we looked at the first two ways to start knocking down the fear of the future:
- Acknowledge the Reality of Loss
- Accept your Fearful Self.
Today, we’ll look into these two:
- Avoid your Avoidance Habits.
- Abide in the Promises of God.
Avoid Your Avoidance Habits
As I mentioned in part one, one of the reasons that our fear of the future grows is that we avoid the reality of loss. So, we need to begin identifying and understanding what our avoidance habits are. What are the ways in which we try to avoid loss?
We know this, right? Neuroscience teaches that avoidance habits become engrained in our brains, so any action establishes a neural pathway, and when it's repeated, we get stuck in those ruts.
So, we continue to run to our avoidance habits again and again, but that doesn’t actually do anything about our fear of the future. Our avoidance doesn’t heal us because avoiding is pretending.
So, what are some of the habits you’ve developed to avoid the fear of the future?
Some of us have avoidance habits like social media addictions, shopping addictions, substance habits, or any of the items, substances, or patterns we run to habitually self-soothe and numb.
This might include compulsive busyness, addiction to pornography, pretending, blaming others, or escapism and rumination.
The big scary thing you are afraid of that you are avoiding — that avoidance might be the very thing that is making you more afraid, that is, allowing the fear to have more power than it ought to.
Your avoidance habits might be keeping you from the free, abundant life God has for you.
Begin to identify and avoid your avoidance habits and begin to embrace and face the fear when you’re ready.
You’ll find the fear may not be totally away, but it will become right-sized and lose its power when you stop avoiding it.
Fear of the future loses its power as we avoid our avoidance habits.
Abide in God’s Promises about the Future
When my kids were little, and there was a thunderstorm at our house, they would come running into our room, so afraid. My husband and I would be half-asleep, but we’d make a pallet on the floor, pray for them, sing over them, and quiet them down. Finally, they’d be able to rest.
Here’s what I always found so beautiful — the storm was still raging. Lightning was crashing, and thunder was booming. Things were still loud, still scary. But simply because they were near us, they felt safe and comforted, and they could rest.
In your own fear of the future, you have a similar invitation — to run into the presence and promises of God. Your fears might not totally go away. The storms of life will still rage. But the presence and promises of God provide comfort, peace, rest, and freedom in your fears.
To knock down the fear of the future, you don’t need more courage, and you need more of God’s perfect love, which drives out all fear.
There are so many promises of God related to the future. Here are just a few to abide in, as you continue knocking down your fear of the future:
1. God will never leave you or abandon you. “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread, for the Lord goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 3:6).
2. God will give you peace that makes no sense, an inexplicable peace. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
3. Nothing in the future can ever separate you from God’s love — not fear nor death — nothing. “I am sure that neither death nor life...nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37, 39).
4. God will strengthen and hold you in the days to come, so you do not need to fear. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand" (Isaiah 41:10).
5. The thing we fear most, death, has been conquered by Jesus. Death is dead in Christ. “It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three — sin, guilt, death — are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!” (1 Corinthians 15:55, The Message).
6. One day when you meet Jesus face-to-face, all wrongs will be made right. All fears will be gone. Everything you have lost will be restored in Jesus. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
7. Jesus was afraid before going to the cross and yet responded perfectly in fear...and we are measured by his fearlessness, not ours. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Ultimately, knocking down the fear of the future comes through faith in the One who holds our future — and comes in abiding in God’s promises for the future. Go over those promises and remind yourself of them again and again.
Back to our story of Jesus on the boat — it’s kind of wild because the disciples moved from being afraid of storms to being afraid of Jesus. Why? Because they saw the powerful authority, he commanded over the storm.
In ancient tales, great heroes of old often called on the name of gods for protection. They prayed in the name of someone or something. But in this storm, Jesus simply rises and speaks, quiet to the wind, be still to the waves.
Jesus calls on the name of no one because his is the name above all others. Jesus alone wields power and authority over our fears and can calm our hearts.
Whatever fear of the future you are holding, Jesus can quiet it with his voice, He can cause it to be still, and he wants to do that in your life today.
- Acknowledge the Reality of Loss.
- Accept your Fearful Self.
- Avoid your Avoidance Habits.
- Abide in the Promises of God.
A Prayer for Fear of the Future
God, I recognize that sometimes I am afraid of the future. I thank you that you love me even in my fear. Calm my heart when I am afraid, and help me abide more deeply in your promises today.
For further reading:
How Can Christians Knock Down Fear of the Future? Part 1
Should Godly Women Laugh Without Fear of the Future?
Why Should We Not Worry about Tomorrow?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/nicoletaionescu
