According to the English dictionary, the word “fear” can be defined in the following ways.
I. an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm.
II. A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined.
While it is commonly believed that the phrase “fear not” and similar or related phrases occur 365 times in the Bible, implying one phrase for every day of the year, this idea may not be an accurate one.
However, what is true is that there numerous (over a hundred times) occasions in Scriptures where God encourages His children against fear.
In 2 TIMOTHY 1:7, the apostle Paul makes it clear that fear is alien to the identity of the believer.
One important reason why the believer must learn to overcome fear is because it poses a threat to his discovery and fulfillment of God’s purpose for his life, and it does so in the following ways using Moses as a case study;
EXODUS 3:1-22
1. It blinds the believer.
One of the effects of fear in a believer’s life is that it blinds him from seeing the picture that God is attempting to paint to him when He speaks to him generally and specifically when He reveals His plans and purposes for his lives to him.
Fear attempts to keep the believer’s mind and attention on the present situation, disadvantages, weaknesses, and disabilities, thereby blinding him from the possibilities that God is revealing to him.
God was revealing His purpose to Moses, amidst showing him the possibility of a free Israel, but all that Moses could see was his inability to speak, the possibility of being rejected by the Israelites, and possibly death at the hands of Pharaoh for the murder of an Egyptian before he fled Egypt. Another good example of this will be the story of Elisha and his servant in 2 KINGS 6:8-17.
2. It creates doubt.
As a result of the blinding effect of fear, doubt becomes the experience of the believer under the influence of fear. Doubt and fear are inseparable. They always work together.
Moses was unable to trust the Lord and exercise faith to fulfil God’s purpose for his life as long as he kept seeing all of these issues. There was no room in His heart for faith, only doubt. Moses doubted God as long as he was in fear, but thank God for His patience and kindness, who continued to speak to Moses until he overcame doubt.
3. It causes Inaction.
Sometimes, a believer could be very well aware of God’s purpose for his life and do absolutely nothing about it until they transit in glory.
More often than not, this inaction, a refusal to take steps in the direction of God’s purpose for his life is a result of fear, fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, fear of failure, etc.
The reality is that until a believer acts on God’s word and purpose for his life, it will only remain a vision or dream. Fear, as result of inaction, keeps a believer in his comfort zone and away from God’s purpose for his life.
4. It limits God.
Ultimately, the effects of fear head up here. All that God wills, desires, and purposes for the believer will continue to be nothing more than these.
In PSALM 78:40-41, we see that God could not do as much as He wanted ro do because the people doubted Him. Their unbelief was a provocation to God, who had demonstrated His power and goodness to them over and over again. Their fear of the unknown meant that they failed to experience God’s plan to bring them into the land of Canaan. A journey that could well have taken less than 40 days became a journey of 40 years.