“For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings pour out like water. For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.”
Job 3:24–25

As we read the opening chapters of the book of Job, we learn that Job was a man of integrity—a man who reverenced God and shunned evil. He was blameless and upright. Satan sought to discredit him before God and was permitted to take away everything he possessed. Job lost his children and his livestock, and then Satan attacked him physically, though he was not permitted to take Job’s life. “In all this,” we are told, “Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job’s only response was, “‘Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

It is interesting, however, to hear Job say, “For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.” He had a preconceived fear in his own mind that something like this might happen. We must not allow seeds of fear to be sown into our minds, influencing us and filling us with worry, anxiety, or fear.

Over and over again in Scripture we read, “Do not be afraid,” “Do not fear,” and “Do not worry.” These exhortations appear repeatedly because fear was one of the results of sin entering this world. We must remember that this kind of fear is not from God. In fact, we read, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14–15). The Lord Jesus also declared, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Timothy had a tendency to be timid and to allow fear to influence him, just as many of us do. But Paul reminded him, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). In Philippians 4:6–7, Paul reminds us that the way to enjoy this peace is not to give in to our fears, but to trust and depend upon our God: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Anchor For Today:
We must not allow seeds of fear to be sown into our minds, influencing us and filling us with worry, anxiety, or fear.