Fearless DevotionalSample

"Good Fear & Bad Fear"

When our world feels like it’s falling apart, how do we remain calm and unaffected? We’re living in a broken, dangerous world. Fear is everywhere—both legitimate and irrational. Is living without fear even possible?

Now, not all fear is bad. It’s actually a God-given emotion meant as a survival tool. Fear can be a good thing. At times it can even save our lives. When we sense a threat, our bodies kick into Fight or Flight mode—an automatic physiological reaction hard-wired into us to protect us from harm.

God never intended for us to live in fear though. Yet the enemy of our soul does. He wants us cowering in a corner and rocking in the fetal position because that’s when we become the least effective for God’s purposes. He distorts our Fight or Flight response. He would have us constantly live in fear of being robbed, murdered, hit by a bus, going down in a plane crash, or even being bombed at the grocery store at any given moment.

When our Fight or Flight system is activated, we tend to perceive everything in our environment as a threat. Our fear becomes exaggerated. We see everything through the filter of possible danger. But we weren’t meant to stay in the Fight of Flight mode forever, which is why we have to go back to God’s promises, like Psalm 46, and remind ourselves that God is our ever-present help in times of trouble, our fortress and our strength. We need to go back to the Truth and remind ourselves that as children of God, we live by faith, not by fear. Fear—both good and bad—is not the boss of us. God’s Word is, and it says, “God is within her, she will not fall.” (v. 5)

Reflect

Some fear is good; it’s living in fear that’s bad.

Respond

1. When everything around you feels like it’s crumbling, what’s your initial response? Faith or fear?
2. Can you think of a time when you experienced a “good” kind of fear? Maybe a time when your body’s natural Fight or Flight response helped you overcome a dangerous or stressful situation?
3. Try memorizing Psalm 46 and when you feel the swell of anxiety trying to overwhelm you, recite it to yourself.